The First Rise & Fall of Voldemort
by Unknown Future
Summary: Slight AU. Begins summer before Marauders 7th Year. What Happens when there is no prophecy claiming a 'Chosen One? How are the Marauders, and eventually Harry, involved in the War? How does Harry recieve his scar? Why are the Marauders in danger?
1. A Prank Filled Birthday, Part 1

**The First Rise & Fall of Voldemort**

**Summary: **AU-- Begins at the start of the Marauder's seventh year. What would happen if there was no prophecy proclaiming Harry Potter the Chosen One? Would Harry still be the one to defeat Voldemort? How would the wizarding world cope with the dark times and even darker wizards?

**Rating: **T

**Author's Notes: **This story is to begin the summer before the Marauder's and Lily go to Hogwarts for their seventh year. It will follow various points of view from the beginning to the end. I'm not sure when I'll end it yet, or how. Much work to be done yet…I'll try to stick to a steady update rate, but I can't make promises.

**Disclaimer: **However much I might want to, I don't own anything to do with Harry Potter. I am not the creator of the recognizable characters, places, ideas, and so on. Just had to get that little tidbit out of the way. Now, on to the story. Enjoy!

_**A/N: Okay, so I've decided to put the title of a song that I think coincides with the chapters. It won't be a perfect match of course, but I'll get them as close as I can to matching up with the chapter. I won't be putting the lyrics in though, so if you want those you'll have to seek them out on your own.**_

**Chapter One: A Prank Filled Birthday; Part I**

_Song: The Boys Are Back In Town_

_By: Thin Lizzy_

**-Sirius' POV-**

Sixteen-year-old Sirius Black awoke with a violent start. Outward appearances showed young Sirius muttering incoherently. However, Sirius Black was not one to be so rudely awakened and let it go so easily. He was already plotting his revenge on his best friend, James Potter, who had poured a bucket of ice water on Sirius; the morning of his seventeenth birthday no less!

"James! You PRAT!" Sirius yelled at his good friend. "What were you thinking?"

"Aww Padfoot," James replied, "you know me better than that. I don't think." James said this last with an all-too-innocent grin on his face.

"I assume you woke me from my beauty sleep for a reason?"

"Why, of course, it's your birthday mate…we've got to do celebrate somehow. Wormtail and Moony are downstairs being smothered with food by my mum."

"Well then, sod off would you. I need to get ready. I'll not be long."

"I knew you wouldn't…not once food was mentioned, anyhow," James said on his way down to the kitchen for second helpings.

While Sirius took a shower he contemplated the past couple weeks. They had gotten out of Hogwarts a month ago and Sirius had gone home, well, to his old home, Number 12 Grimmauld Place. After just one day he began fighting with his mother. A week home and he was fighting with his brother and at all out war with his mother. He couldn't take any more of it after the first week and a half so he ran. It took him two days to get to the Potters' as he had nothing other than a Comet 260, his very outdated broomstick, to get him there.

The Potters had immediately given him a room so that he didn't have to go home. After-all, he was like a second son to them. It was now a week since he'd arrived at the Potter's Manor.

Sirius finished his shower and began getting dressed. He put on some jeans and a muscle shirt. Sirius had decided to execute his plan for revenge later that evening when Moony could help. Sirius practically ran downstairs in his hurry for some of Mrs. Potter's excellent pancakes.

"See mum," James said, "I told you he wouldn't be more than ten minutes. That's a new record Padfoot, 9minutes 25 seconds," James said turning to Sirius.

"Happy Birthday dear!" Mrs. Potter exclaimed.

"Morning Padfoot!" Remus and Peter said simultaneously. "Happy Birthday."

"Mr. Moony, Mr. Wormtail, Mr. Prongs," Sirius said nodding to each Remus, Peter, and James in turn. "Mr. Padfoot would like to discuss a matter of utmost importance with Misters Moony and Wormtail as soon as this wonderful breakfast has concluded." Sirius finished, winning himself a smile from Mrs. Potter at the compliment to her cooking.

Sirius saw the look on James' face showing that he knew revenge was to be coming his way. This made Sirius smirk in James' direction.

Breakfast was rather uneventful, apart from Sirius opening his gifts from his friends and surrogate parents. Peter had gotten him a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans; Remus had gotten him some of Honeydukes finest chocolate, James had gotten him the most recent edition of _Quidditch Through the Ages_ and a broom servicing kit, and Mr. and Mrs. Potter had gotten him a new broom. The newest on the marked in fact; a comet 3000!

"Wow!" Sirius exclaimed, still in shock from all the wonderful gifts he'd received. "Thanks guys. Thank you Mr. and Mrs. Potter," he finally managed to say.

"No problem, Sirius," Mr. Potter said, "You deserve it."

"Sirius dear," Mrs. Potter queried, "How many times must we ask you to call us Henry and Harriet? I must have told you 50 times already!"

"I'd say 50 more should get the job done. You know how thick my skull is." Harriett just sighed and left for work at St. Mungo's while Henry laughed and started to leave for work in the Ministry's Auror Department.

"You boys behave today," Henry said before leaving.

"We're just going to Diagon Alley to get some stuff Dad. Honestly, you know us. Would we misbehave?" James asked his father with a mock hurt expression on his face.

"Of course I know you, which is why I'm telling you to behave." Henry said. "Lot of good it'll do though," he muttered on the way out.

"Right," Sirius started, "James can clean up here while Remus and Peter come with me to the sitting room." Sirius then proceeded to explain his brilliant plan to his fellow Marauders.

**-James' POV-**

James began to worry as they had been in Diagon Alley for an hour now and his friends hadn't sought their revenge yet. They were walking past Florean Fortesque's Ice Cream Parlor when stuff started happening. The first thing he noticed was the sudden absence of Remus and Sirius. Peter told him to sit down and order until the other two returned. That got James' suspicions going. What furthered them was when Peter left to 'see what was taking them so long'.

James just sat there waiting for the inevitable to happen. He was really beginning to fret over his friends absence when Lily Evans walked over to his table her best friends Rosemary Pearl (Rose), Sandrine Stone (Rina), and Holly Davids in tow.

"H-hello L-Lily," James stuttered nervously, "c-care to sit down?"

"Sure Potter. Where're you cronies at?" Lily asked.

"Plotting revenge…on me." By this time, the other girls had also mysteriously disappeared. "What're you doing here?"

"Oh, just some business." Lily said this rather mysteriously.

"Really?" James asked, his suspicions coming back full blast. "What kind of business?"

"The kind that's none of your business. Gosh Potter, what do you want? My life story?"

"Sorry for asking, guess I'm a little paranoid right now. I wish Sirius would just get it over with."

"What'd you do anyway?" Lily inquired.

"Poured a bucket of ice water on him this morning to wake him up for his birthday." James answered her distractedly while continuing to look around for the other Marauders.

"Oh," Lily said in a confused manner.

"What's wrong?" James asked, now paying complete attention.

"Umm…I've gotta go. Sorry James." Lilly said this hurriedly, trying and failing to cover something up.

"Evans, what's going on?"

"What makes you think something's going on James?"

"The fact that you've just called me James twice."

"So?"

"You never call me James, it's always Potter. Now, just tell me what's up."

"Fine, I got an owl this morning--," she said trailing off, now looking ashamed of herself.

"And?"

"Do I have to say _Potter_?" Lily asked, putting particular emphasis on his last name.

"Yes _Evans_, you do." James answered, also emphasizing her surname.

"Fine. It said that if I came to Diagon Alley today to meet you…" she stopped again, now biting her lip. "…Sirius is the biggest PRAT ever!"

"Don't I know it. Now, what'd the owl say Evans?" James asked getting a little miffed at her reluctance to answer.

"Itsaidyouwouldaskmeout" she said in a rush of incoherent mumblings.

"What was that?"

Lily repeated, now blushing a very deep shade of red, "it . said . you . would . ask . me . out. THERE! Are you happy now?"

"Only if this means you like me." James said with a hopeful smile, "do you?"

"It doesn't matter because you're still to immature, so I wouldn't say yes if you asked me out anyway." She gave him a look that said but-I-hope-that-changes-because-if-it-does-I'll-definitely-say-yes.

"Oh," James said, suddenly depressed and utterly disheartened. "Well, bye then."

Lily began to walk away and James began contemplating how he could change. Suddenly, Lily turned around and said "screw it" and kissed him full on the lips. It only took a second for James' shock to wear off and for him to reciprocate the kiss with equal fervor.

When they finally pulled apart, James asked Lily, with a huge grin on his face, "does that mean you'll go out with me then?"

Lily thought for a moment before answering, "yes, but if you screw up even once…we're done until you grow up. Got it?"

James didn't say anything, he just snogged her for another five minutes before coming up for air and saying, "whatever you say."

James decided then and there that he could spend his entire life stroking her long red hair and looking into her emerald green eyes and he would be at peace with the world.

**-Lily's POV-**

When Sirius, Remus, and Peter returned Lily decided it was time for her to go and meet her friends. Lily wandered over to Gringotts, all the wile daydreaming about James' messy black hair and hazel eyes. She began to wonder why Sirius thought he could prank James that way. All she could think of was that Sirius expected her to turn him down and then he would rub it in somehow. Something just didn't fit.

_**A/N: OK, so that's the first chapter. Hope you enjoyed it. It's starting out strangely, I know. The prank may be confusing right now, but it'll be explained in the upcoming chapter. Also, keep in mind that it is an AU so it may seem that some of the characters are not quite right…it's supposed to be that way. Reviews would be appreciated.**_


	2. A Prank Filled Birthday, Part 2

**Chapter Two: A Prank Filled Birthday Part Two**

_Song: Hit Me With Your Best Shot_

_By: Pat Benatar_

**-Sirius' POV-**

That evening, the Marauders were reading in the sitting room at Potter Manor. Sirius was looking at James and thinking about how part one of his plan had gone perfectly. Lily's visit was so thoroughly effective, now he was distracted from the current proceedings of the rest of the world by thoughts of her. James was completely unaware of part two, which was about to begin.

Sirius began a countdown in his head for the start of part two. 5…4…3…2…1…

Sirius nodded to Remus and Peter, James didn't notice because he was still daydreaming. Remus cast a charm on James that produced a small storm cloud over his head that would only rain on him and only when he was thinking about a certain red-head. The cloud was, of course, invisible. This was thanks to Peter, it made it so that James couldn't determine the true cause of the rain and reverse the spell. It immediately began to rain on James. Sirius quickly cast a spell to make warming and drying charms ineffective for the next day, irreversibly so.

James jumped as soon as the rain began to hit him. Just as he began spluttering, it ceased to rain. 'Curious' Sirius thought to himself 'he must have stopped thinking about Lily to focus on this new development.' By the time James had looked up, his three friends had returned to their reading. "What was that?" James asked no-one in particular.

"What was what Prongs?" Sirius asked this with a mock confused look on his face, all the while trying not to laugh. "Did something happen?"

"Yes, I was…thinking and it started to rain on me!"

"I think you're being paranoid mate," Remus stated, "how could it rain on you in here? It's not even raining outside."

"I don't know, but it did! Look, I'm even wet!"

"You're just being paranoid James." Peter added, "Moony is right, how's it even possible? You're probably just sweating…it's hot out."

"Whatever," James said, his vice slightly suspicious. He returned to his quiet contemplations and was immediately rained upon again. This time his friends couldn't hide their snickers behind their books. "What the hell did you do?"

"Why James, just a simple thought activated rain charm," Remus said with a grin stretching from ear to ear.

"Yup," Peter said, "every time you think of Lily, a slight downpour shall remind you of the real world."

"So," Sirius summed up, "you should be completely soaked in about ten minutes." He said this last looking immensely proud of his brilliant plan.

**-James' POV-**

The rest of the summer passed much the same way with only a few changes and occurrences. Pranks continued to plague the Potter Manor, as did the owl belonging to one Lily Evans. This plight of owls was being reciprocated by James upon the Evans' residence.

The 30th of August brought Sirius' and James' Hogwarts letters. James was made Head Boy and Quidditch Captain for Gryffindor House. His letter also said Lily Evans had been made Head Girl, this didn't really surprise James in the least, however it did make him smile non-stop for hours on end.

**-Remus' POV-**

Walking around Diagon Alley the next day, Remus, Sirius, and Peter were dragged all over by James, who was excited to get to Hogwarts and see Lily. After getting their supplies they all returned to Potter Manor where they spent their last night before school eating and joking around.

­­­**-James' POV-**

The following morning on the train, James immediately sought the compartment where Lily was sitting talking to her friends. James went up and gave Lily a hello kiss all the while hearing their friends jeering and making cat-calls. "How are you?" He asked ignoring his friends.

"Fine, you?"

"Fine."

"Oh come on James," Sirius started, "be honest…"

"…He's been fretting all morning long about you 'do you think she'll talk to me still?'" Remus cut in mocking James in a high falsetto voice. "It was all we could do to keep him from hexing everyone in the halls while he was trying to find you."

"Hi Rose," Sirius said, "how was your summer?"

"It was fine, boring for the most part. How about you? Anything interesting?"

"Nah, just the usual. Prank wars and so on."

"Sounds fun." She said nodding.

"Hello Remus," said a shy voice, belonging to Rina, from the corner. "How was your summer?"

"F-fine Rina. How about you?" Remus replied.

"Oh, it was fairly good," Rina said, now with a smile and a slightly more confident voice. "I traveled a lot with my parents."

"That sounds great."

"Where's Holly?" Peter asked, attempting to change the topic of conversation.

"She's with her new boyfriend," cough, cough, "Regulus." Rina answered.

"Oh, him." Sirius said with a snarl. "I guess it could be worse, but why him? He's a Slytherin for Merlin's sake!"

"He's also your brother. Just let it go Padfoot. It'll be alright." Remus said.

"Alright, alright."

"I'm gonna go talk to Frank and Alice for awhile." Peter declare, seeing that the room was about to get awkward for him. "See you guys later."

**-GENERAL POV-**

That particular compartment, second from the last, was where Lily and James snogged for several hours that train ride. It was also where two new couples came about, the first was Remus and Rina. The second was Sirius and Rose. That day the Marauders decided that the second to the last compartment on the Hogwarts Express was their favorite train compartment in existence.

_**A/N: Okay, so was that any better? I hope so anyway. The next chapter will be moving VERY quickly as I want to get past the Marauders Hogwarts years and into the War and eventually to Harry and the others. Hope you enjoyed it. **_


	3. Intermission Time Flies

**Disclaimer: **I still don't own anything to do with Harry Potter. I am not the creator of the recognizable characters, places, ideas, and so on.

**_A/N: This is a very fast read; just meant to give a short summary of their seventh year. The next chapter will move more slowly and have more detail. _**

**Intermission: Time Flies**

_Song: Why Can't We Be Friends?_

_By: War_

Their 7th year seemed to fly by. The three couples, if possible, became even better friends. The couples all seemed like perfect matches. Even the Hogwarts staff thought it so. James only slipped up once, but he was defending Lily from Severus Snape (a.k.a. Snivellus, the biggest git on the planet) so she let it slide.

James and Sirius had troubles with finding time to study as they had Quidditch practices. James also had his Head Boy duties, though they seemed less like work because Lily was there. Remus could be found either studying, with Rina, or both. Peter wasn't around much, he spent his time doing Merlin knows what.

Alice Smith and Frank Longbottom also became closer friends with the Marauders and the Moonstruck; as Lily, Rose, Rina and Holly had come to be known as.

Holly and Regulus were still going out. As a result of Regulus' increased time spent in Gryffindor tower, he and Sirius had the chance to overcome their past differences and become very close brothers. Sirius took joy in his mother not knowing that he and Regulus were now very good friends, he couldn't wait for the day she found out though. The look on her face would be priceless.

In May, Regulus and Frank were made honorary Marauders. They weren't full-fledged members yet, they were told because they hadn't been close that long. There were, however, a couple of different reasons. One was they weren't Animagi, though Sirius and James were tutoring them, and it would take a while before they could master it. The other was they didn't know the truth behind Remus' 'furry little problem'. Alice was invited into the Moonstruck group, she also joined in May as a full-fledged member.

_**A/N: I know, it was barely worth posting…right? Oh well, now I can get back to the good chapters (if there ever were any, I don't know). Okay, well I'll probably post the next chapter soon.**_


	4. The Niggling Marauders

**Chapter 3: The Niggling Marauders**

_Song: Animal I Have Become_

_By: Three Days Grace_

The story picks up on the 1st of June, 1978. The 7th years have begun taking their N.E.W.T.S

**-Remus' POV-**

Remus bolted awake, immediately starting to panic. He began getting dressed. "Sirius, wake up!" Remus screeched this at one of his best friends. "We're going to be late for the Charms Theory test!"

Sirius didn't get up, he just grabbed his wand and said _Tempus Temporis_ causing a magical clock to float in front of Remus' face. Remus immediately calmed down. It was only 5 A.M.; their test wasn't for 4 more hours yet. This had happened every morning for the past few days. The first time Sirius joined in Remus' panic until they had cast the time spell and seen they were early. Every day since then, Remus would wake up at around 5 panicking that they were late for a test, Sirius would then cast the time spell, and then Remus would get ready for the day and go to study in the common room for a couple hours until everyone else woke up and went to breakfast.

They'd already had their tests for Potions. Today, Wednesday, they had their Charms tests. Over the next couple weeks they had a course N.E.W.T. at least every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. They still had Transfiguration this week. Defense Against the Dark Arts, Muggle Studies, and Ancient Runes were all next week. There were, of course, other class tests, but those took place in-between the main N.E.W.T.S. Remus still had Arithmancy and Astronomy, both this weekend, to go as well.

Rina had begun to come down at about 6 to study with him. She had heard his and Sirius' shouting the first morning and come to see what the racket was. They had talked for a few minutes and when he said he would just wait in the common room for everyone else to wake up, she suggested that he utilize the time and study. When she had figured out that this same thing happened every morning, she insisted upon getting up to do some studying with him.

After showering and getting dressed it was about 5:30, so Remus got his books on advanced Charms theory and went to the common room to begin his study session while waiting on Rina. She came down right on time, only a short wait for Remus. And as had also happened every other morning, they snogged for a while before getting to the part of their morning that involved studying for that days exams.

**-Remus' POV Cont.-**

It was now Sunday the 5th and everyone had Defense Against the Dark Arts tomorrow so Lily, Rina, Rose, Holly, Sirius, Peter, James, Remus, Regulus, Frank and Alice had decided to have a group study session. Regulus had come along partly to help, partly to see what he had coming up next year when he took his N.E.W.T.S., and, most of all, to spend time with his girlfriend and his brother.

Lily decided to start the questions with some about werewolves; "ok, what is the difference between a werewolf and an Animagus?" The four original Marauders looked at each other and didn't answer, all of them with strange grins on their faces that confused all the others, as they didn't even answer the question. Frank, however, did answer.

"An Animagus chooses to change…"

"…but a werewolf has no choice in the matter." Alice finished, grinning broadly when Lily nodded that they'd gotten the answer correct.

"All right," Lily continued, "name some identifying features of a werewolf, when they are and are not in their transformed state."

Holly answered this one, "when they are transformed, they have a longer snout and they have longer arms and legs than a regular wolf. When they are in a non-transformed state, there aren't necessarily constant physical giveaways. But, around the time of the full moon, werewolves tend to look peaky and become angry easier."

"Good." Lily said. "now, can anyone name some benefits to being a werewolf?"

"A werewolf has a heightened sense of sight and smell, making it easier for them to identify specific people. As a con to the heightened sense of smell though, if a person wears a lot of perfume or cologne then the werewolf is likely to be overwhelmed by the scent." Rose stated matter-of-factly.

"Good, now can anyone name some more cons to being a werewolf?" Lily questioned.

"There are many, one is that when they transform, they go through extreme pain. Their bones are broken and re-grown into the form of a werewolf. Most go through the mental anguish of not wanting to change and not wanting to hurt anyone else. Namely, though, is the prejudice that follows them everywhere for their entire lives." Rina said this last with disgust at the thought that people could be so cruel to people who have been cursed.

"And you know what pisses me off," Lily started, getting off topic and sounding like she would lose control any moment, "is that werewolves are forced to register themselves after being bitten, giving them no chance what-so-ever of living normally because they're being forced to identify themselves and thus subject themselves to the cruel nature of bigots." Lily finished with a vehement tone to her voice.

"I agree that it's stupid. I mean, once a werewolf registers, they're pretty much doomed to a life of persecution. Once people find out, all they do is discriminate and ridicule people who had no choice about being bitten." Rina said this in a very passionate voice, as if she would strike down the next person who spoke in an ill manner towards werewolves.

This got Remus to thinking about his 'furry little problem' as Sirius had so aptly named it. He was beginning to think it was time to share his secret, so he did the only thing he could think of at the time, he called a meeting of the Marauders original four members.

"Mr. Prongs, Mr. Padfoot, Mr. Wormtail…Mr. Moony would like a word in the corner, if it's not too much to ask. Sorry to our honorary members, the Misters Black and Longbottom, but this is of top priority and if my assumption is correct you shall find out soon enough what we are to discuss now." Remus said this with a very formal inflection in his voice that spoke of utmost urgency, but held a strong note of courtesy along with it that could leave no one doubting his good intentions.

The four original Marauders went to a corner and began their meeting.

"Mr. Prongs will now call this meeting of the Marauders to order seeing as our usual secretary is the one who called the meeting." James began the rest of their friends all looking on in extreme interest. All four Marauders were sitting up straighter than any of their other friends had ever seen. They were also giving their undivided attention to the current speaker. Remus, who noticed the onlookers, cast a spell to prevent their conversation from being heard by anyone but the four intended to hear it. "All are present," James continued, "ok then. What was the purpose of calling this meeting Mr. Moony?"

"Mr. Moony would like to proclaim his intent to tell the honorary members of this group, the Marauders, as well as the group titled Moonstruck of his 'furry little problem' as he believes they are trustworthy candidates for receiving the knowledge. He would like to ask for his fellow Marauders opinions on this matter of utmost importance and, at the moment, secrecy."

"Mr. Padfoot would like to give his assent to the divulging of Mr. Moony's secret to those aforementioned peoples. He would also like to add that it is about time."

"Mr. Wormtail would like to also give his assent, but would like to be assured by Mr. Moony that he is absolutely confident in his decision."

"Mr. Moony assures Mr. Wormtail that he has the utmost confidence in his decision and would also add that he would trust all the aforementioned persons with his life as well as his secret."

"Mr. Prongs would also like to give his assent and adds that he is happy to support Mr. Moony's decision on this matter."

"Mr. Moony then concludes his statements and gives his especial thanks to Misters Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs."

"Mr. Prongs would like to ask Misters Padfoot and Wormtail if they have any other comments to be shared or any other business to be addressed at this time."

"Mr. Padfoot would like to discuss the matter of the honorary members becoming fully-fledged Marauders at this time, as they shall soon know of Remus' 'furry little problem'." Sirius started off the new topic with fervor.

"Mr. Prongs would like to give his approval to this choice, he would however like to point out that though Misters Black and Longbottom are well on their way to becoming Animagi, they have not yet achieved a transformation."

"Mr. Moony would like to say that he believes they will have achieved the transformation by the time of the next full-moon, which is the time they would be initiated in full. He would also like to give his consent to the full initiation of Misters Black and Longbottom."

"Mr. Wormtail will also give his consent to this decision, and support Mr. Moony's statement of confidence in the abilities of Misters Black and Longbottom to achieve their transformations by the initiation."

"Mr. Padfoot also agrees with Mr. Moony and Mr. Wormtail. He thanks Mr. Prongs for his opinion on the matter and would now ask Mr. Prongs if he also agrees with Mr. Moony."

"Mr. Prongs does agree with Mr. Moony and would like to extend the invitation of full membership to Misters Black and Longbottom." James agreed. "Now, seeing as all have agreed, there is no need for a vote. Is there any other issue that needs addressing at this time?" Everyone shook their heads no. "Then I declare this meeting of the Marauders to be concluded and thus adjourned."

Remus took down the silencing charm and the four returned to their seats, all of their friends looking at them curiously. As they were still in the common room, Remus cast another charm to prevent unwanted listeners from eavesdropping before speaking.

**-Regulus' POV-**

Regulus' curiosity was very high when the Marauders returned and Remus began to whisper hurriedly to Rina. His curiosity spiked again when her eyes widened and she kissed him. She then began to whisper back, also hurriedly. Whatever she said, it made Remus visibly relax.

"Ok," Remus began, "I wanted to tell Rina first. It's about my 'furry little problem'. I've decided to tell you what it is. Now, I've heard all of you discussing this at various times and with various levels of accuracy, no one has it completely right. I guess the closest to actuality was when Lily and Rose guessed that I must have a very hairy chest as the logical explanation." Lily and Rose looked at each other. It seems that they didn't know that Remus had overheard them. Now they looked rather bashful, they were both blushing unnatural shades of red. "First, I know I can trust you all, but I need you all to promise you won't tell anyone. Just call it my 'furry little problem' like Sirius, Peter and James do, if you feel you must talk about it." Regulus was sitting up straight and listening intently now.

"Sure Remus, whatever you say. We would never share something that's so obviously personal." Alice said, reassuring Remus of their trustworthiness. When everyone nodded their agreement to Alice's statement, Remus went on.

"This is more difficult than I thought-" Remus said trailing off for a second, only to be interrupted by Frank.

"What is it mate? You're starting to worry me."

"Sorry, ummm… Right, well…Here goes…I'm a werewolf." Remus paused to give this time to sink in to his friend's perceptions of him. "I was bitten by Fenrir Greyback when I was about 5 years old."

**-Remus' POV-**

_Well, it could have gone worse_, Remus thought to himself, _no one ran off screaming, and no one looks afraid or disgusted. _He did notice, however, that all the girls were looking at him with tears in their eyes at his tale of how he was bitten. He wasn't sure, but he thought he noticed some pity coming his way from Regulus…but then Regulus took pity on everyone, and his expression was very hard to read. Remus decided to put it off as shock. Frank had a similar look of suddenly understanding many things that had been unclear before.

"So, all your relatives aren't really dead, are they?"

"Nope, I don't think there has actually been a death in my family for the past nine years."

"And, just a hunch here, your mother isn't deathly ill with a recurring disease, is she?"

"No, she's probably healthier than most people in Hogwarts. Sorry for lying to you guys, but I couldn't tell you. Dumbledore warned me against sharing my secret, and most people wouldn't react this well. I was afraid of what you would all think of me when you found out."

"Nothing's changed mate," Frank said, "if you need anything though, just let us know."

"Remus, is this how you got the nickname Moony?" This last was asked by Regulus.

"Yeah, Sirius started calling me Moony when he first found out as a joke and it kind of stuck."

"So then, how did Sirius and James and Peter get their nicknames of Padfoot and Prongs and Wormtail?" Regulus was again the one inquiring.

"That's for them to tell you if they want to. But I'm sure you'll find out soon enough, even if they don't tell you now."

**-James POV-**

James had been thinking this whole time about how they were going to tell Frank and Regulus of their Animagi selves. And then, inspired by Remus' earlier actions, he said, "Mr. Prongs would like to request a meeting with Misters Moony, Wormtail and Padfoot immediately."

Again the four walked to the same corner and Remus put up a second silencing charm, having left the one up around the others guessing that they would shortly be in need of it again. After the charm was protecting their conversation, James began. "Mr. Prongs would like to apologize to the Marauders for not thinking of this before. He would like to propose the idea of also sharing the secret about the Marauders Animagus selves with the honorary Marauders and the Moonstruck. He believes that they shall all know soon enough anyway, and that the air may as well be cleared whilst we are already confessing secrets."

"Mr. Padfoot agrees wholeheartedly with Mr. Prongs and gives his support to the idea of sharing the Marauders secret of their Animagus selves with the honorary Marauders and the Moonstruck. He would also like to apologize for not thinking of this at the last meeting."

"Mr. Wormtail would like to say that he has no disposition against revealing the Marauders secret about their Animagi forms, but he would like to point out that then the two biggest Marauder secrets would be known to many, including five who are not to be Marauders. He does however, as stated before, not disagree to the release of said information."

"Having no Animagus form myself, and having already told of my own 'furry little problem', Mr. Moony will give his consent to the release of said information to said people, he also would like to encourage said release of information as it feels wonderful to get a secret like that off of one's chest."

"As a unanimous decision has been made, Mr. Prongs calls this meeting to a close unless there is any other business to be addressed." All shook their heads no for the second time in about twenty minutes. "Then Mr. Prongs determines this meeting to be adjourned."

The four, again, walked back to the group of friends that they had left, again, to share some more. James began to think, which only happened when it involved Lily, pranks, or Quidditch. He was thinking about number one on this list, Lily, and what she would think when he told her he was an un-registered Animagi. Odds were that she would reprimand him at first, and then ask to see his transformation under the guise of wanting to learn about it. She always did that with their more clever pranks, first reprimanded them for pranking people and then asking how they'd done it. She never failed in her insatiable desire to learn more so that she could excel at everything she did. It was one of the things that he loved about her. Sirius was the first to talk.

"Remus' recent confession has inspired us…"

"Oh no, what have you done now? Merlin I hope it wasn't stupid or dangerous!" Lily said in a tone of disapproval, not even needing to hear what it was to know that it couldn't be good, without thinking about what she'd said. When she interrupted, Sirius paused to glare at her and got temporarily sidetracked.

"You know, not everything we do is bad or stupid or dangerous."

"That's right," Remus continued for him, with a feral grin on his face, "just most things."

"Oh for crying out loud!" Rose, who had gotten impatient, exclaimed rather loudly. "Just get on with your 'confession' or whatever it is you have to say."

"Oh, right." James continued the conversation. "Well, as Padfoot said, we were inspired by Moony's confession and we've decided to make one of our own."

"That's right. We decided that if Remus could trust you, then so could we. We are going to tell a little known fact about the Marauders." Peter put in his two-cents.

"Right, well, no point in dithering on about it," Sirius began. "We, we being Prongs, Wormtail and Myself, are Animagi."

"Of what sort," Rina asked this with half curiosity and half suspicion in her voice.

"Of the illegal sort," said James with a grin on his face that would have looked to anyone outside their close-knit group of friends to be one of childish innocence. To anyone in said close-knit group of friends, it was a devilish grin which was shared by Sirius and Remus. Peter just looked afraid that someone would tell, he was always afraid of something or other.

"I figured as much," Rina continued, "I meant what form do you guys take?"

"Well, Prongs takes the form of a Stag. Wormtail changes into a rat. And I become a large black dog. I've been told I look like the Grim, but I don't buy into that crap anyway. I maintain that I am devilishly handsome in any form, including that of a dog bearing the resemblance to an omen that means nothing."

"James Henry Potter," Lily started, "I cannot BELIEVE that you are an Animagus and you never told me! I thought we shared everything! What else have you lied about? Hmmmm?" Lily said all this, slightly confusing James as it wasn't what he wasn't expecting a lecture on.

"Because, if I told you you'd figure out that Sirius and Peter were as well. It wasn't just my secret. It was theirs as well. Plus, it probably would have let Remus' secret go to if you found out why we did it!" James realized he'd just dug himself a grave having said too much. He saw the dawning realization hit Lily's face. Her face contorted into new depths of rage and disbelief and fear that he had never seen before. He figured that since he was already dead, he may as well go down fighting.

"You all go out running with him on the full-moon, don't you?" She said with mixed emotions in her voice, too many to choose the dominant place holder. "That is stupid AND dangerous! Do you realize that you could have been bitten or killed? DO YOU?" She shouted. She was starting to scare everyone.

"Lily, you need to calm down," James tried to stay calm himself, but he could see it was useless to try to calm her down with a calm tone. She wouldn't listen to anything other than shouting herself. Right now, he was glad that Remus was the one to have cast the charm as his didn't hold up against shouting yet.

"Don't you tell me to calm down."

"LILY! Listen to me, okay. Just listen for a few minutes. Let us explain. Yes, we go running with him on the full-moon. We are about as stupid as we ever have been, but that's never stopped us before. You know that."

"Don't take that condescending tone with me James Potter!"

"Sorry," he had the decency to look abashed, "We also realized the danger. We accepted it as a necessary part of helping Remus through his transformation. Plus, believe it or not, we did some research. We looked up everything there is to know about werewolves and we found that they don't hunt or _hurt_ other animals, just humans. That's why we felt safe in running with Remus. Plus, if I do say so myself, it is quite an accomplishment to master this transformation so young…let alone at all. Now, go ahead and get that rant out of your system that I know is eating you up inside." James braved the risk of Lily's fury to give this cheeky response.

"I don't happen to have a rant prepared for illegal Animagus transformations that include running with a werewolf once a month, but trust me, you'll hear of it later." With that she sat down again and waited for someone else to talk.

"I expect I will. I'm looking forward to it love."

"Ok, so…when are you all gonna show us your transformations? Because I'd like to see them." It was Rina who said this.

"Not for a while, after the testing is done I would imagine." Sirius said this last, "besides, I think Moony would have a conniption if we did much beside study right now." Sirius finished with a smirk.

"Not true, I know when to take a break."

"Sure."

"Is that why you want us to learn about Animagi? So we can go with you?" Frank asked this with a hopeful look on his face.

"Yeah, we were actually hoping you'd be ready in time for the next full-moon. We were planning on making you fully fledged members then. What do you think guys?" James asked, trying to ignore Lily making huffing noises at the mention of the full-moon.

"It sounds great to me," Regulus replied, "how far are we from making it to the transformation?"

"Well, you know all the theory. Now you just have to figure out your animal. We had to guess ours, with the help of each other of course. You start to hear the sounds that that particular animal makes, then you start to see the ghost of whatever animal you're to become following you around. We had to guess because none of us knew of many animals. Mine was the hardest because it was so unrecognizable to me at first." James said this with a wistful expression on his face that clearly showed he was thinking about when he found out what he was to transform into.

"You guys should start hearing the sounds and seeing the ghosts any day now. When you do, tell us what you hear and see and we'll start researching what you'll change into." Sirius said this sounding overjoyed at the thought of getting to figure more animals out. He'd had a field day the first time round as he loved mysteries.

"Sounds good," Frank and Regulus said in unison. They turned and smiled at each other then burst out laughing.

James thought that all in all, this had been a wonderful day and he was glad that they'd told their other friends and their girlfriends about their secrets, even if Lily was going to lecture him later. He still loved her as much as ever, and now he had no secrets from her.

**-Remus' POV-**

Remus was so relieved that his friends had accepted him for what he was and not cast him out as he had feared would happen. He was glad not to have a secret that big anymore as well, he hated keeping things from his friends. It was torture for him the first year at Hogwarts to try and hide his being a werewolf form his friends. He had been relieved, too, when they had figured out that he was a werewolf and he no longer had to lie to them. Plus, all his friends had been so kind about it, not even freaking out for a minute. This, more than anything, made Remus feel as if he belonged with these people, his friends.


	5. Love Is All Around

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the recognizable characters, ideas, places, or other such things to do with Harry Potter. It's unfortunate, but life goes on...and so must the story.

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**_A/N: I got the title for this chapter from the song _Love Is All Around _by:_ The Troggs_. I had a really hard time choosing a song, as so many coincide with this chapter, but I ended up just narrowing it down. So, what I'll do is put the song with the part of the chapter that it fits best with. Ha! There _is_ a solution. I'll also put one for the overall chapter. I never thought I'd say this…but…there's just too much music to choose from! Also, a warning for LOTS of romance in this chapter. I had to do it though, to get the timeline of events going properly in my head._**

**Chapter 4: Love Is All Around**

_Song: Time of the Season _

_By: The Zombies_

**-Sirius' POV-**

_Song: I Just Want to Celebrate – Rare Earth_

"No more tests! No more tests! No more tests!" Sirius sang loudly. "We're _finally_ done!" He was so happy; he began dancing a little jig with James.

"WOO HOO!" James shouted. "We have to celebrate. What say we get the other boys and head to Hogsmeade? We'll sweet talk Rosemerta into some butterbeer, get some sweets at Honeydukes, and get ourselves some entertainment from Zonko's. We can celebrate with the girls 'till all hours of the night!"

"Here, here!" Sirius agreed enthusiastically. "I'll get Reggie from the Great Hall."

"Good. I'll get Moony, Wormtail and Frank. Meet you at the one-eyed witch in 15 minutes." James said with equal enthusiasm, now setting off towards Gryffindor tower.

Sirius set off for the Great Hall, which is where Regulus said he'd be for the next hour. Sirius began to think about Rose as his feet led him along a much traveled path to the Great Hall. He had decided that he was going to propose to her after the graduation ceremony. In fact, he'd been thinking about it for a couple months, he just didn't want to move to fast. But now, he felt they were ready. He decided to ask Regulus and James to go with him to a jeweler while in Hogsmeade. Sirius came out of his silent contemplation to find himself at the doors to the Great Hall.

Sirius walked in and immediately spotted Regulus sitting with Holly at the Gryffindor table, he never sat with the Slytherins anymore. He walked up and greeted his brother and Holly.

"Evening brother dearest, Milady," Sirius said in a sarcastic tone, a smile playing on his lips.

"Good evening, my wonderful brother," Regulus said with equal sarcasm. "Can I do something for you?"

"Why yes, now that you mention it, you can. James and I have decided to put together a soirée for this evening. We're heading to Hogsmeade and we'd like you to join us. James is fetching the others. Will you be gracing us with your presence this evening?"

"I don't see why not," Regulus stood up and gave Holly a kiss. "See you later love."

"Milady," Sirius began, addressing Holly in a tone of utmost cordiality Sirius, "would you be so kind as to inform your consorts, our better halves, of this evenings activities. We shall meet you at the Room of Requirement; Rose knows how to get there, at quarter to nine."

"Of course good sir," Holly replied also in a formal tone, "it would be my pleasure."

With that, Sirius and Regulus left for the statue of the one-eyed witch. Once out of ear-shot of the Great Hall, Sirius stopped and turned to Regulus saying, "I've decided to ask Rose to marry me."

"That's great! When?"

"After the graduation ceremony."

"Congratulations mate."

"Thanks. Listen, in Hogsmeade I'd like you and James to go with me to get a ring."

"Of course Sirius, if you need help with anything else just let me know."

"Thanks. I have to tell James yet, so if on the way there you could entertain the others for five minutes?"

"No problem."

Sirius sighed in relief and they began walking again.

**-Frank's POV-**

_Song: Groovy Kind of Love – Wayne Fontana & The Mindbenders_

Ten minutes before James enters the common room…

"Oi Remus, Peter!" Frank called to his friends, "come here for a minute."

"What's up mate?" Remus asked.

"I need your help with something. I need to go to Hogsmeade and get something for Alice, and I'd like you guys to help me pick it out."

"What is it?" Peter asked, sounding intrigued.

"An engagement ring," Frank stated.

"Congratulations!" Remus exclaimed.

"Wow," Peter whispered. "Congratulations."

"Thanks guys. I don't know when I'll propose, but I want to have the ring ready for the perfect moment."

"No problem-" Remus started, but was interrupted by James coming into the common room.

"Good evening, my fellow Gryffindors. Sirius and I have planned a trip to Hogsmeade if you would like to join us. We're gonna get stuff for a party this evening to mark the end of N.E.W.T.S. Would you lot care to join us? Sirius is already getting Regulus." James told his friends.

It was Remus who replied, with a wink in Frank's direction, "yes; we'd love to come with."

**-James' POV-**

_Song: Midnight Confessions – The Grass Roots_

After telling the guys about the plans for that evening, James went to get the Marauders Map. It was originally Sirius' idea because they kept getting caught by Filch, but Remus was the creator of their most prized Marauder possession. While going through his trunk, he also pulled out the ring he'd bought to propose to Lily with. He decided that he would pop the question tonight. James hoped that Lily would say yes, he really loved her.

He grabbed the map and the ring and went to collect the other three from the common room. He tapped his wand on the map and said 'I solemnly swear that I am up to no good'. When he said this, he saw where Sirius and Regulus were on the map. They were almost to the one-eyed witch. "Let's hurry up guys." He said this on his way out the portrait hole. "They're gonna beat us to the statue."

**-Sirius' POV-**

_Song: Candy Man – Sammy Davis, Jr._

"Ok," James said. "Frank, Remus and Peter; you go get the butterbeer and the Honeydukes. I think that a bunch of Choco-Balls should suffice as the house elves will provide us with more stuff. Sirius, Regulus and I will go to Zonko's and stock up on Filibuster's Fireworks. Sound good?" Everyone nodded. "Ok, we'll meet back at Honeydukes in an hour."

Normally they wouldn't take that long, but when Sirius had asked James for his help they agreed that an hour would be best. They were going to head to Silversmith's, the jewelers, first in case the others went to Zonko's when they were done. They took the long way round to make it look like they were going to Zonko's.

When they got there Sirius went to speak to the manager in his office, he waved for James and Regulus to follow him when he saw them hesitate. Once in the office, they sat down and waited. Five minutes later and Mr. Silversmith himself walked in.

"Good evening gentlemen. I'm Mr. Silversmith. I hear one of you is looking for something special. How may I be of service?"

"Mr. Silversmith. My name is Sirius Black and these are Regulus Black, my brother, and my friend, James Potter," he said pointing to Regulus and James in turn. "I'm looking for an engagement ring. I'd like something special, though not too extravagant."

"Well, lets see here…" he pulled out a box made of a velvet-like material and opened it. It was lined with satin and inside sat about twenty or so rings. "…Ah…Yes…Here we go." He held up a simple silver band with a triangular diamond on it. The band was wide on the left and thinned on the way to the right. On the left side, encrusted in the thicker part of the band, were three smaller diamonds. "Now then, this ring is enchanted to fit the wearer's finger perfectly. The stones can change color if the wearer so wills them to. It is a one of a kind ring and the band is made of sterling silver."

"It's perfect. I'll take it."

"Alright Mr. Black," Mr. Silversmith said, beginning to box the ring in one similar to the box holding the other rings, "that will be 100 Galleons."

Sirius gave him the money and took the now boxed ring. "Thank you Mr. Silversmith, you've been most helpful." And with that the three boys got up and left his office. When they were about to exit the store they spotted Frank, Remus and Peter looking at something on the other side of the store so they made a quick detour to talk to their friends.

"Hey guys," Regulus said. "What're you doing here?"

"We could ask you the same thing," replied Remus.

"I was buying something for Rose," Sirius said cautiously.

"Oh, well I was just buying something for Alice," Frank said, equal caution in his tone.

"What'd you buy for Alice?" James asked Frank.

"What'd you buy Rose?" Peter asked Sirius.

Sirius sighed and said, "I bought an engagement ring. I'm planning on asking her after graduation."

"Oh. Well, I was doing the same. Except, I don't know when I'll ask Alice."

James then shocked everyone by saying, "I'm going to ask Lily tonight."

"What?" Sirius asked. "Since when?"

"This morning. I mean, I've had the ring since our last Hogsmeade trip, I was just waiting for the proper time to ask."

"Right, well, I may as well say then that I've also got a ring for Rina. But like Frank, I'm not sure when I'll propose." Remus stated bluntly.

"Wow, we're all going to be getting engaged soon. This is weird how, even though we didn't tell each other, we ended up going for it at the same time." Frank said this with awe in his voice.

"So Regulus," Sirius began with a grin and lots of sarcasm "have something to share with us?"

"No, unlike you lads, I'm still in 6th year. However much I might want to, it's not yet that time for Holly and me." Regulus replied, sounding a little sad.

"Cheer up little bro, you'll get there quick enough."

The two groups just stuck together instead of splitting up again. First they went to Zonko's and got some Filibuster's Fireworks. After that they went to get some kegs of butterbeer from The Three Broomsticks. Last they went to Honeydukes as they had to go through the cellar there to get back. There they got some Choco-Balls for the party and Remus picked up a few bars of every type of chocolate to replace what Sirius had eaten, Sirius paid for that of course. When they were done, they snuck back down to the cellar and went back to Hogwarts.

**-Lily's POV-**

_Song: Wonderful Tonight – Eric Clapton_

After Holly told the girls about tonight, Rina, Rose, Alice, Holly and Lily had begun to get ready for the evening. It was about 6 p.m. when she told them but the five girls shared a bathroom, thus extending the time spent getting ready.

Lily was wearing an emerald green halter-top dress that went to her knees and complimented her eyes. She wore silver hoop earrings, a delicate silver chain as a necklace, a silver charm bracelet, and some flat green shoes. She put her fiery red hair in a ponytail, leaving down a thick strand on the right side of her face.

Rose had on a similar dress, except it was ruby red. She wore a gold choker necklace, gold dangly earrings, and a gold bracelet from her mother. She had on 2" heels in a deep burgundy color. Her chocolate brown hair was curled loosely and left down around her shoulders.

Alice wore a sapphire blue dress to match her eyes. It had spaghetti straps and a square neckline. It went half-way down her calves. She had on sapphire post earrings and a necklace with a sapphire pendant. She wore blue heels and her long blonde hair was left down straight, but with a slight flip to the ends.

Rina had on an amber colored dress that had thicker straps and a plunging v-neckline that wasn't too revealing. She wore pearl earrings and a matching pearl bracelet and necklace that her grandmother had given her for her last birthday. She put on some elegant and stylish flat brown shoes that were decorated with various sequins and glitter. Her deep red hair was put up in an elegant bun with a few strands of hair hanging down on the sides of her face.

Holly wore a strapless, plum colored, dress that went to just above her knees and flipped out ever so slightly. She put on some pale purple heels. She wore amethyst earrings and an amethyst necklace. She curled her ebony black hair and put it half-up and half-down.

After they were all ready, they put on their robes over their dresses and Rose led them to the room they were supposed to meet at. When they got there, they waited for something to happen. Rose began pacing, Lily guessed from boredom. Then, suddenly, out of nowhere, a door appeared and Rose opened it. When they walked in they heard Muggle music and saw the boys talking while they waited. Then, James looked up and said, "Welcome to The Room of Requirement!"

All the boys went and met their girlfriends, all accept for poor Peter, and complimented their choice in clothing. "That dress matches your eyes perfectly." That came from James, and Lily thought she heard Frank say the same to Alice.

"Thank you."

Then James pulled Lily back out the door, saying over his shoulder that they'd be right back.

"What's up James," I asked confused, "is something wrong?"

"No. Everything's fine, great in fact. Lily, you know I love you, right?"

"Of course I do James, I love you too." Lily said with a smile growing on her lips.

"Ok, this is harder than I thought, best just ask," he mumbled to himself. "Lily," he said speaking up and looking into her eyes. "I love you more than anything. I think we go perfectly together in every way imaginable. I want to spend my life with you. Will you marry me?"

At first Lily wasn't sure she'd heard properly, but then she thought about it and sure enough he'd proposed. She began crying and nodded her head yes. He kissed her passionately then picked her up and spun her around in his joy.

"Here," he said pulling a box from his pocket, "I got this for you."

It was a beautiful ring; simple, yet elegant. It was a white gold band with diamonds encrusted all around the band. It looked too big for her, but once she slipped it on it resized itself to fit her perfectly. "I love you," she finally managed to say. "This ring is beautiful. I hope you didn't go to too much trouble."

"That's not possible." He said, making Lily cry again.

**-Alice's POV-**

_Song: It's So Nice To Be With You – Gallery_

When Lily and James came back in and they announced their engagement, everyone cheered and went to congratulate the pair.

"Oh Frank," Alice said. "That's so sweet. Aren't they perfect for each other?"

"Yes, they are. I know another pair that's perfect for each other as well."

"Oh, do you? And who might they be?" She asked with a knowing smile.

"Us," Frank declared. "Alice Smith, I love you. Will you marry me?"

"Yes…, yes I will." Alice's heart nearly burst with joy. "I love you so much Frank."

They also shared a deeply passionate kiss and then Frank gave Alice her ring. It was a silver band with a solitaire diamond and it fit her wonderfully. The also announced their engagement and were also heralded with many hugs, handshakes, and congratulations from their friends.

**-James' POV-**

_Song: Kodachrome – Paul Simon_

It was now Saturday, June 19th, the day of their graduation ceremony. A bunch of tables were set up on the quidditch pitch and in the front was a stage for the speakers. The six Marauders and five Moonstruck got a table together.

Regulus and Frank were now fully-fledged members of the Marauders as they had mastered their Animagus transformations. Frank had turned into an eagle and Regulus had changed into a panther. Frank's Marauder name became Talon as his were so long and sharp, easily his most prominent feature in animal form. Regulus had been dubbed Slinky by Sirius because when he transformed the first time, his tail coiled up just like Sirius' favorite Muggle toy. The two had found running, or in Frank's case flying, alongside the others to be exhilarating.

The ceremony was to begin with a speech from Headmaster Dumbledore. Next was each Head of House. Professor Slughorn from Slytherin came up first and complimented Lily's skill in Potions class. Then up was Professor Flitwick from Ravenclaw who praised James and Remus on their talent in Charms. After Flitwick was done, Professor Sprout for Hufflepuff went up and she was absolutely thrilled to talk about Frank's and Alice's star performances in Herbology.

Lastly came who they'd been waiting for, Professor McGonagall from Gryffindor. "In my time as Gryffindor Head of House," she began, "I have seen many students pass through, though never such a close group as this, nor such a troublesome group. My house was home to the Marauders, who I hear have recently expanded to include two more members. Over the years, the Marauders have been a cause of mayhem, chaos and a source of humor in these dark times. These students were top notch at everything they put their minds to, which was usually pranking fellow students or the staff." At this, the Marauders stood up and cheered loudly. They then climbed on their chairs and bowed to the audience and then to McGonagall.

"Our thanks for your compliments Milady McGonagall." James said in a formal dialect.

"They are much appreciated from a lady as talented as yourself;" Sirius added.

"James Henry Potter and Sirius Orion Black, you two sit down this instant or so help me…" they heard Mrs. Potter shout from a distance.

"Sorry mum!" James shouted back.

"Sorry Mrs. Potter!" Sirius also shouted back, at the same time as James. Both had feral grins plastered on their faces.

"Our apologies madam," Remus said to McGonagall, the boys sitting back down, "please continue with your wonderful sentiments."

"Yes well," she continued, "as you can see, quite the handful. My condolences to you Mrs. Potter. However, I must say that Sirius Black was one of my most talented Transfiguration students," cheering from the Marauders table, "as was Lily Evans." More cheering from their table, but McGonagall continued unfazed. "It has been my privilege to teach all of you over the years. And now, the ceremony is to be handed over to the Head Boy and Girl…James Potter and Lily Evans. May Merlin help us." She finished and then left the stage.

Lily and James took their places on stage with much cheering from their table. "Ok, ok, settle down you guys," started James. "Thank you for that lovely introduction Professor McGonagall, we'll try to live up to it. We've decided to hand out a number of awards. As to who won these, we consulted student and teacher alike for their opinion and put it all together. The first award was one of Lily's choosing, so she shall present it. Lily…"

"First award is, 'Most Stressed During Exams'. We spoke with the other houses and determined that the student who was the most stressed out during exams was Remus Lupin!" Remus reluctantly went up and received his award.

"You know, just because I like to study doesn't mean that I'm overly stressed!"

"Sure it doesn't Moony. That's why you woke up every morning panicking you were late for something." Remus had a shocked look on his face. "What, didn't you think Sirius was going to complain to _someone_ about being woken up every morning at 5? Anyway, back to the show. Next up was a tie between myself and another. For the receiving of 'Most Detentions', you know who you are…Sirius Black!" Sirius ran up to the stage. "Now then, since the tie was with me, I concede and give the award to Sirius as he was always a wonderful partner in crime. We always got into the thick of it together!" Sirius accepted with a huge grin and a bow to the audience.

"I couldn't have done it without you mate." He then left the stage and sat back down.

The awarding went on much the same way for the next little while. The students had voted on Lily and James as best couple, as had the staff. Lily and James met the acceptance of this award with the announcement of their engagement, to a lot of loud cheering from their table. Sirius and Rose were voted the 'Couple Most Likely to Cause Trouble and Mayhem'. Lily was voted 'Most Creative and Resourceful'. Remus got another award for 'Best at Researching'. Sirius and James were named 'Best Prankers' and Snape was voted 'Most Likely To Be Pranked', much to his dismay.

After Lily and James finished, Dumbledore gave another small speech about 'taking care of oneself in these dark times' and 'good-luck in future endeavors'. When he was done it was time for the much anticipated, at least by Sirius and James, lunch.

**-Rose's POV-**

_Song: I'd Do Anything – Simple Plan_

Before she could begin eating, Rose was pulled away by Sirius insisting that they take a walk by the Black Lake. They walked over hand-in-hand and sat under the beech tree where they'd first said that they loved each other. Rose was curled up in Sirius' arms and they just sat there looking at the lake for a while.

Then Sirius began, his voice was slightly nervous. "Rose, I love you very much. I can't imagine my life without you in it. I would do anything for you. Would you marry me?"

Rose looked up into his eyes and said, "Sirius, I love you so much. Of course I'll marry you!"

He kissed the top of her head and pulled her closer to him. They sat in their silent contentment for a while before Sirius got up and offered her his hand to help her get up.

"We'd best be going back. Oh, and here, I hope you like it. You can change the color of the stones to any that you might want."

She took the proffered ring and immediately put it on. She loved it! It was beautiful and it fit her comfortably. "Oh it's wonderful Sirius. Thank you so much!"

They went back and told their friends, who congratulated them, and then ate their wonderfully delicious lunch.

**-Remus' POV-**

_Song: Count On Me – Jefferson Starship_

Remus had decided on the direct, blunt approach. He turned to Rina, who had been talking to Alice, and began.

"Rina," she turned and looked at him questioningly. He pulled out his mother's ring. It had also been his grandmothers and so on for generations. "Will you marry me?" He noticed that they were being watched intently by their friends.

Rina, in a state of joyous shock, just nodded her head and held her hand out. Remus put the ring on her finger and pulled her into a tight embrace. He vaguely heard clapping and cheering in the background, but he didn't care. She'd said yes!

**-Sirius' POV-**

_Song: Graduation – Vitamin c_

Sirius, after seeing all his friends so happy, made a very easy decision. He would make the announcement now. He hoped that they'd all agree to it.

"Attention, attention. In light of recent and not-so-recent events, I have had my thought for the week," mock gasps from James, "and it has grown into a full blown idea," mock clapping from Remus. "Not-so-recently, mine and Regulus' Uncle Alphard died. He left me tons of stuff I don't need and a ton of cash. One thing though, that he left me, was a five bedroom flat in London. It has as many bathrooms as bedrooms. It's close to the many attractions of London; The Ministry, St. Mungo's, and Peter's flat being some of them. I would like to extend an invitation, to all those at this table who would like it, a rent-free room. Just let me know, you'll all always be welcome."

All the couples turned to each other and began conversing. Lily and James were the first to accept, on the terms that they got to have their own room with no teasing about sleeping arrangements. Sirius agreed to this straight away as he would be sharing a room with Rose and he didn't want the mickey taken out of him for it. Remus and Rina and Frank and Alice also accepted under these terms. Holly also took him up on his offer, so long as Regulus could also stay there when need be. As it turned out, 'need be' began this summer as he was planning on not going home this summer. He'd told their mother he'd met a Slytherin who invited him to his summer house for the whole summer, a temporary ploy to get his stuff out of the house, and once he had it…he was going to write her and tell her his true living arrangements. He fully expected to be blasted off the family tree as Sirius had last summer, and he was looking forward to what their mother would do in the face of no Black heir.

**-GENERAL POV-**

_Song: We Are The Champions – Queen_

The next day was the End-Of-Term Feast. Gryffindor won the House Championship, as well as the Quidditch Cup. After the feast, the group of friends lingered for a few hours at Hogwarts. They finally went to Hogsmeade to apparate to their new flat in London, and begin their lives outside of Hogwarts.

**_A/N: Ok, I hope you liked it. Sorry again for so much romance. The next chapter will have more detail about the war and it will definitely have less romance in it. _**


	6. All Grown Up

**Chapter 5: All Grown Up**

_Song: Bad Moon Rising_

_By: Creedence Clearwater Revival_

**-Sirius' POV-**

_Wow, _Sirius thought to himself, _living with all your friends sounds like a ton of fun…but, it's a hard job._ The group of friends had only been living in Sirius' London flat for the past week and already there were troubles. Each couple had their own room, per request, and Sirius had given them all permission to do whatever they liked to the room as they'd be living there a while. He didn't think at the time that it would be this difficult to have five bedrooms redone at the same time, not to mention five bathrooms. Plus, Sirius remembered with a slight grimace, the girls were conspiring to redecorate the sitting room as well.

Lily had lain claim to the putting together of a library. It was filled with books to help become an Auror, a Healer or an Obliviator. The guys had decided to become Aurors; except for Remus, who had decided to study to become an Obliviator. The ladies had a more varied choice in career. Lily, Rose, and Alice were also studying to become Aurors, Holly was studying to be a Healer, and Rina was joining Remus as a future Obliviator. Lily had also added all their old schoolbooks, everyone's, which meant that the library currently held about ten copies of _Hogwarts, A History_; as well as every other book ever owned by any of the people currently inhabiting the large, but suddenly cramped, flat. She would only let Remus in, and that was after much pleading and an offer of unquestioning assistance.

His thoughts then went to the study that once held antiques. Sirius had sold the ones he and Regulus didn't want, and the ones they did were taken to their own rooms. The study had also been taken hostage by the four women who were planning weddings. To say the least, Sirius had never seen so many samples of taffeta in his life.

Much had happened since they left school one short week ago. The group of friends, minus Regulus as he was still too young, had been asked by Dumbledore himself to join the Order of the Phoenix. They were to be sworn in at the upcoming meeting, which was two days away. They had all accepted, of course, and were rather nervous. Sirius thought that this also had something to do with the high tension currently in place at the flat.

Sirius was currently playing a game of Wizard's Chess with James, and losing horribly. He was contemplating all of this in-between his moves. James just made a move with his last knight that made it possible for Sirius to take the knight out with his queen. Without considering the consequences, he never did, he moved his queen with a satisfied smirk at his friend. His face fell though, as James returned the look Sirius had just possessed and moved his bishop.

"Check mate, mate." James said this with another grin, probably at the fact that Sirius had gone into his trap so easily. "Sorry."

"No you're not!" Sirius exclaimed, now a bit miffed at himself for losing…again.

"You're right, just thought I'd be a good sportsman. Unlike one person currently in this room."

Sirius looked around; they were alone in the room. He came to the conclusion that James had just got him again. "Oh, bugger off. I haven't had any coffee yet." And it was true, it was now 9:30 in the morning and Sirius had remained deprived of coffee since awakening at 8:00. He was not one to function properly without his coffee fix. He got all crabby and his mind worked in a slow function that James had taken to exploiting for his own amusement. They had played chess every morning that week while waiting for Lily to wake up, she was the only one who could make decent coffee, and James had decided he might as well entertain himself with a distraught Sirius whilst waiting.

"Quit with the excuses. Besides, I told Lily of your dilemma and she's decided to give you, me, Regulus and Frank cooking lessons. I think she's tired of cooking. She wants us to 'learn a valuable skill, James Potter, so that you don't have to rely on someone else to cook all the time!' She was very much so looking forward to teaching us, especially you mate. She wants to see what you can do in the kitchen, other than snog Rose. So, that's what we get to do when she wakes up today."

"Oh, just great. Will the ladies be joining us with this lesson?"

"No, they've all agreed to talk to their mother's when they go home for a visit this weekend. It's just us. It wouldn't even be that many, but your mother never cooked a day in her life so she can't teach you." He said this last obviously trying to avoid a still sore subject. When his mother had heard her precious baby, Regulus that is, would be living with 'filth' and had tricked her into helping him move out…lets just say things got very ugly very quickly. "Plus, Frank's mum is out of town for a while so he's just going to stay and learn here. Peter's already learned to cook from his mum, and he's not living here so it's not a problem for him. I'm staying because Lily will have my hide if I don't stay. Moony has to stay because of the deal he made with her for his 'unquestioning help'. That one came back to bite him in the arse. You know, you'd think if she was going to teach us anything…it'd be something that would help with the war. But no, she's got to go and teach us how to cook."

That week there had been some new political developments. First and foremost was the appointment of Cornelius Fudge as Minister of Magic when Dumbledore refused, again. Then there were numerous Death Eater attacks on well known people within the Light community. The Bones' had recently been attacked, barely escaping with their lives. They weren't the only ones though. There were more every day, and it got more depressing each day to read _The Daily Prophet_. There hadn't been any deaths recently, but there were some 'disappearances' of some well-known Dark wizards. It was suspected that they went to join their friends in the ranks of the Death Eaters, Voldemort's supporters.

Just then, Remus, Frank and Regulus entered the room to see Sirius in quiet contemplation while James read the newspaper that had just been delivered by owl.

"Mo---rning," Remus yawned loudly half-way through the word. "What's new today?"

"Anyone we know die?" This was asked by Regulus, it had become a morning routine for them. Regulus, Remus and Frank would all come down then Remus would ask about anything new and Regulus would get straight to the point of recent deaths that could affect them.

"None yet, maybe in the _Evening Prophet_ though." James replied.

"What's this about cooking lessons?" Frank inquired. "Lily's upstairs getting ready. She said she'd be down in ten minutes and we'd all better be properly equipped to learn how to cook. She seemed rather excited, but agitated all the same when she said 'I suppose no-ones made breakfast yet'. What's the deal?"

"Oh, it's rather funny actually," James tried to make it sound interesting the best he could, but failed miserably. "She plans to teach us to cook, so she doesn't always have to." James thought it a hopeless cause to try and persuade the guys to enjoy it, so he gave up.

**-Lily's POV-**

"Oh. What about the-" Lily heard upon entering, she was ready for the worst now.

"They're taking lessons from their mother's. I'd suggest the same for you five, but there's something wrong with all of those scenarios. So, let's go to the kitchen boys." She took over the situation with such a forceful manner and a commanding tone that allowed for no questioning of her authority. They all immediately stood and followed her into the kitchen. "Now then," she began, summoning an apron for each of them. Sirius's was pink and frilly while everyone else's was a nice, muted, plain black.

"No way!-" But his protests were muffled by an amused Lily tying it around his waist for him. "This is unfair! I want a new one of whatever these are!"

"Shut up and let her go on Padfoot, it's not all that bad." Remus' noble attempt at a sincere consolation was no good though. In fact, all of the guys began laughing hysterically until Lily took pity on Sirius and transfigured his apron to match the others.

The lesson began, much to everyone's dismay. Lily got frustrated with the handing out of the first set of instructions. The five boys were all able to conjure decent tasting food within the first half-hour, thanks to Lily's instructions. They then moved on to muggle cooking, as Lily believed it to taste better than conjured food. Four hours later, having gone through two fire extinguishers, Lily was ready to call it quits when Sirius managed to make something. Albeit, it was scrambled eggs and they were a little soggy, but it was edible food! Lily was so ecstatic that her instructions had paid off. She immediately kicked out the other four, saying that they could make do with conjuring, and focused her attention wholly on Sirius.

She spent the next two hours teaching him everything she knew. She had him make supper and dessert, with only a little help from her. They had no more fires and Lily was further impressed by the fact that Sirius was so neat while cooking, unlike every other time that he did something. He cleaned up everything as he went, spotlessly, and he put everything away, in the right place! She was enthused beyond belief. When they girls returned home from shopping to a nicely cooked meal, they were all so shocked. At first they thought that the boys had weaseled their way out of it and had gotten Lily to cook, but when Lily told them proudly that Sirius had made the entire meal plus dessert…they were shocked beyond belief. They were all so thrilled by another muggle cook in the house! There really was no comparison between magical and muggle cooking, magical conjuring of food always left a strange taste in the food.

The women all commented upon how good the food was; they all enjoyed themselves immensely. Much to the men's chagrin, Lily said that Sirius was a wonderful cook and that they had had a wonderful time. Sirius agreed wholeheartedly, stating that 'I find it relaxing and enjoyable'. Sirius and Lily then divided up meals to be cooked. Sirius would make breakfast, as he usually got up first, and Lily would make dinner. They all usually went their separate ways for lunch, going out to eat as couples or visiting their families. They both left dinner that evening extremely satisfied with their new arrangement, especially Sirius though because Lily had taught him how to make really good coffee.

**-James' POV-**

Two days later, they were heading to their first meeting with the Order. Regulus had settled in to watch television; he was still enraptured by the muggle invention that Lily had insisted upon getting. They arrived at the location that they had been told by Dumbledore that morning by a quick floo-call. They knocked and waited for the door to be opened. Molly Weasley opened the door for them with a slightly nervous smile. She had long, curly, bright red hair and blue eyes. She was of average height, though she looked slightly shorter than she was because of the way she had changed after giving birth so many times.

"This way dears," she began, "I expect you're to be joining the Order, are you?"

"Yes, ma'am," James said in a polite tone. "We were contacted by Dumbledore. How long have you been a member?" He asked, trying to start a conversation to calm his own nerves.

"Call me Molly and let's just say that it's been a while now, before you lot were at Hogwarts. That's as far as I'll say. Now then, you just missed meeting my eldest son, Bill. It will be his first year in September. I have four other boys as well. Charlie, he's going to be ten soon. Percy, he's going to be eight in a few days time. How time does fly. And then there's Fred and George. They're going to be seven in a month. Two of the biggest troublemakers, they are. They do know how to cause a ruckus. Don't know what McGonagall will make of them when they get to Hogwarts. All right, here we are then. The meeting will start shortly." And with that she left to talk to, who could only be her husband, Arthur Weasley.

The group just stood there waiting for the meeting to begin. They didn't recognize many people aside from Arthur and Molly. Some they did though were Alastor Moody, an incredible Auror, McGonagall, Dawlish, another Auror, and the Bones', a couple who were both Healers at St. Mungo's. They didn't try to get acquainted with the other members just yet, though. Ten minutes later, Dumbledore walked in and called the meeting to order.

"I would like to begin this meeting of The Order of the Phoenix by inducting ten new members to our ranks. Would you please come forward, you know who you are." He then began to induct them all in. James was the first to go. "Do you, James Potter, agree to help The Order of the Phoenix to the best of your ability?"

"I do."

"Do you swear to keep the information discussed during meetings secret from all those not belonging to The Order of the Phoenix?"

"I do."

"Will you help and protect other members to the best of your ability?"

"I will."

"Will you consent to working on the side of the Light in the fight against Voldemort and his followers?"

"I will."

"And lastly, will you please repeat after me: I, James Potter, being sane and healthy, consent to the rules of The Order of the Phoenix. Should I disregard my commitments, I agree to allow myself to be exiled from The Order of the Phoenix and those who remain among The Order." James repeated the vow and was now an official member of The Order. Next up was Lily with the same vows. After her came Sirius, then Rose, Holly, Peter, Alice, Frank, Remus and Rina. After they were all sworn in, the meeting continued.

"Excellent, excellent. Now then, we shall begin. Have any of you got any new reports to give?" Moody stood up. "Yes, Alastor?"

"The Ministry is, as I'm sure you know, not handling the transition between ministers well. There have been people talking mutiny in the halls about how Fudge has no place in office. I know that at least five of them were talking about how Voldemort has got the right idea. I've been telling my people to be on the lookout for any who might turn traitor. They've been casually following the suspicious ones around. Haven't they, Dawlish?" Moody said all this with his usual gruff voice. He was somewhat short at about 5' 9", but very intimidating nonetheless. He had two piercing blue eyes that made you believe he could read your mind. His hair was thinning ever so slightly, and he wore the traditional Auror robes of black with the crossed wands stitched on the left side, signifying his status as an Auror.

"Oh, yes Moody. They take your suspicions seriously enough by now to know when you mean business. We've not found out too much though, young Shacklebolt is one of their targets though…for persuasion. They've cornered him a few times about joining He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named," said Dawlish, a short man with pale brown eyes. He had a bald patch on the top of his head and thin brown hair with gray streaks in it on the sides of his head.

"Good," said Dumbledore, "keep watching them Alastor. I'd also like you to approach Kingsley Shacklebolt about joining us. I'm sure he'll be sensible about it. Just the usual recruiting information will suffice, I think. Is that all?"

"Sorry Albus, but it's not. As you've heard, Severus Snape's mother died a short while ago and, well, he's never been the model boy, but we've got information suggesting he's joined the ranks of Voldemort's followers. We have had reports of him going around with Lucius Malfoy. They say that he's been going missing for periods of time as well, usually just before a raid occurs and then he returns shortly after they've been reported. He was also seen brewing some unknown potions at his home in Spinner's End. We believe he is making some rather dangerous concoctions for Voldemort's use."

"Is that all Minerva?" Dumbledore asked this, seemingly unfazed by this new revelation.

"Yes, for now."

"Good, well keep up the good work. If you could, please set Lucius Malfoy to be followed as well as Severus. I'm sure his dealings are much more repugnant, if not more closely related to Voldemort himself. If there is nothing else, I believe Molly has made us a wonderful meal at this time."

When nobody said anything, they all left to eat. They went over to the Weasleys' to learn what they could about The Order's usual proceedings. "So do you make the food every time?" asked a sympathetic Lily.

"Oh, heavens no, dear. We take turns in doing the cooking. Last week Minerva made a lovely batch of mince pies and some treacle tart."

"Ooh! Treacle tart's my favorite!" James exclaimed excitedly. "So, who's next o the list?"

"Well, whoever made the meal chooses the next to cook. Minerva was waiting to get herself some of my bread pudding. She requested it especially. We try to choose someone who hasn't gone in a while, and since we now have ten new members…" she trailed off.

"We'd love to Molly," Lily volunteered. "I've only just taught Sirius how to cook properly, so we can make the refreshments for next week. I'm sure Sirius won't mind in the least."

"I won't mind what?" Sirius, who had wandered off, asked in a tone that suggested he wasn't looking forward to whatever it was he had been volunteered for.

"I've just told Molly that you and I will make the food for next time, Sirius. Then we get to choose who makes the meal after that."

"Oh, well then, no problem, is there? We'll just make everyone's favorites." Lily and Sirius went off into a discussion about what they would make and James asked some more about The Order. The others had wandered off as well; they were getting acquainted with more of the members.

"How do we know when a meeting is? Surely Dumbledore won't tell us every time. And for that matter, is there a place where all the meetings happen?"

"We use patronuses' to deliver messages, and we have a steady place. We just had to clear out for a few days as suspicions were growing about our whereabouts. Dumbledore's trying to locate a new place, until then we just use different places each time." Arthur, a man of middle height, said. He had blue eyes and bright red hair.

"How do you deliver a message with a patronus?"

"Oh dear," Molly began. "You'll have to know. Gather your friends back in the meeting room. I'll get Alastor and he can show you the details."

Five minutes later, the group of friends was gathered in front of Moody in the meeting room. "Alright, the wand movement is the same as a regular patronus. That's what you're basically creating. I assume you all know the charm for a patronus and can all create one?" everyone nodded. "Good. To keep the patronus from going off to defend you and to tell it you're sending a message you need to add on to the spell. You say it quickly and consecutively. The spell is -Expecto Patronum Epistula Vindico-. You say the spell, then think of your message, and then tell it who to go to. It will come back to you when you're done. Now then, split up into pairs. One person leave the room and send a message to the person here. When it comes, you'll receive one back telling you they got it and whatever else they want to say. Keep them to the point. No-one but the one it's sent to will hear the message. After sending it, wait one minute before trying another if you haven't got a response. Go."

All the couples paired up, and Peter and Holly worked together. All the Girls left, leaving the boys to await their messages. James' came first, in the form of Lily's swan. It flew over to him and he suddenly heard 'I love you James'. He immediately sent his stag back, with success the first time, which said 'I love you to, my Lily-Flower. Good job.' He saw Sirius with a grin on his face after he heard the message from Rose's cat and send back a huge dog with his message. Frank received Alice's frog and sent back his eagle. Remus accepted Rina's wolf with a grin at her patronus and sent back his own wolf, slightly larger with a longer nose and longer arms and legs. Peter listened to Holly's cougar, but couldn't manage to conjure his own rat patronus. Another cougar came and still Peter hadn't managed. James sent him a message to tell him to concentrate and calm down. Peter took a deep breath and gave another attempt. He managed to conjure his and send it to Holly, who sent back a message. Peter looked disheartened for a moment then sent another. A cougar came back and Peter perked up a bit.

"What was the problem Peter?" Sirius asked, having also seen this.

"Oh, I just forgot to send a message the first time out. I was so excited in conjuring it properly that I forgot its message and just told it to go to Holly."

After properly producing and using their patronuses, Moody let them go and eat some food before Molly put it all away. They were starving after their 'lesson'. After eating they went home and Holly began teaching the spell to Regulus, with Dumbledore's permission, and he got it much quicker than Peter had, though not as fast as the others. Nonetheless, he was proud of his panther finding Holly and her sending a congratulatory cougar back to him.

**-Rose's POV-**

Two weeks later, they were still up in arms about the redecoration of the flat. The bedrooms and bathrooms had been completed by each couple relatively easily. James and Lily had painted their bedroom kelley green and their bathroom was a shade of off-white. The floors remained a mahogany hardwood. Sirius and Rose had also opted for an off-white bathroom, but their bedroom was maroon in honor of their Gryffindor spirit…still in strong existence. The floors in their room had been covered in a plush crème carpet. Remus and Rina had painted their bedroom a pale yellow and their bathroom a crème color that was very close to the carpet in their bedroom. Frank and Alice had a pale blue bedroom and a crème bathroom, a little darker than that of Remus and Rina's. They had a honey colored hardwood floor in their room. Regulus and Holly had a deep green bathroom and a cerulean blue bedroom. They also had light hardwood floors.

The dispute, however, was on what to do with the other rooms; the sitting room, the library, the study, and a room that had no title but was empty nevertheless. The library, having been earlier claimed by Lily and her assistant Remus, was going to be painted a color very close to that of parchment. The boys were not even going to touch the study, where the girls had been planning their weddings; it wasn't even an option for anything to be moved in there. The boys wanted a room to have fun in though, while the girls thought that there was plenty of room to have fun in the rest of the flat. The boys eventually won the nameless room as theirs, so long as the girls got to decorate the sitting room. The boys agreed wearily, even though they got what they had originally set out for. They painted the walls to look like a forest, with a magical brand of paint that would make the picture look real and move when you said the incantation on the back of the can. They put their map and the invisibility cloak in there under protective spells that would also preserve them. The map was going to go back to Hogwarts with Regulus in September. They didn't do much else to the room, as they would use it when Remus transformed on the full moons because they couldn't let him run outside anymore. They tried to secure ingredients for the Wolfsbane potion, Lily was going to brew it, but they still couldn't run around outside. As a finishing touch, they put a sign on the door that said 'The Marauders, EST. 1971'.

The girls decorated the sitting room in one day. It was Gryffindor red with gold trim. To make Regulus feel at home, even though he was pretty much a Gryffindor now, they made the kitchen green and put in black appliances. The sitting room had red furniture with gold pillows. It had a fireplace and squishy armchairs and a couch that could seat 6. They made it look as much like their old common room as they could, except for the addition of a fairly large television. They were finally finishing up when the boys came down from doing their room.

Rose had snuck up to see what they were up to about half an hour ago, and was surprised to see Remus and Sirius painting the scene on the walls with great skill. Now they were down, all the girls looked up and grinned. They then looked around at their handy-work proudly. Once the guys had finished complimenting their good taste, they went to examine the kitchen. Regulus burst out laughing, and when his hysterical laughter subsided, he thanked them for their generousness in the decoration of a room that appealed to his Slytherin self. After that, they went upstairs to check out the room that had been redone by the guys. _It's even better when it's done_, Rose thought. _They sure worked hard on this. We all deserve a night off._

"Hey, since we've all worked so hard, why don't we go out to eat? We can clean up quick and then head to the pizza place down the street." Everyone nodded their heads vigorously and left to get ready. A half-hour later, they were walking down the block to Margot's. It was this great restaurant that made the best pizza. When they got there they ordered three large pizzas. They all liked different things, so they compromised on a cheese pizza, a pepperoni pizza, and a pizza with everything on it. They began eating and talking. After a bit though, they were asked to leave because they were too loud. They had their food boxed and they began to leave, all the while though, Sirius and James began singing loudly and off-key. They picked a song that was meant to be funny to everyone in their group; Hungry Like The Wolf by Duran Duran. They walked as slowly as they could, with their arms on each other's shoulders. They looked ridiculous, and sounded worse, but they made their friends burst out laughing. They went back to their flat where they spent the remainder of their evening singing more songs and eating their pizza and drinking some butterbeer. They eventually went to bed, after some hangover prevention potions, and had a good nights sleep.

**-GENERAL POV-**

It was now August 31st and everyone was in a skirmish to get ready for tomorrow. Regulus was returning to Hogwarts and he was having a good-bye snog session with Holly in one of the armchairs in the sitting room. Everyone else was starting their training tomorrow. The Ministry had developed advanced training course for Aurors and Obliviators, as had St. Mungo's for Healers, as all these positions were in desperate need of filling. That was one of the reasons that Remus had gotten into the training program in the first place, they were so desperate that they decided to overlook the little fact that Remus was a werewolf. In accordance with this, the head of the Obliviator staff made sure Remus was top priority to receive Wolfsbane each month…free of charge…so long as he kept up with good work and good behavior.

Their training was going to be very difficult, or so they heard, especially now that training was to be completed in the span of ten months as opposed to the prior 2 years. They were prepared though, all of them. They patiently awaited the arrival of tomorrow when they would bid Regulus farewell, and report to their new jobs as Aurors, Obliviators and Healers in training…

**_A/N: Hope you liked it. The song is kind of old, but it fits with the theme of upcoming war. I think it does anyway. So, the next chapter will be based around the training of everyone. I'll get it done ASAP. Reviews and suggestions are appreciated!_**


	7. A Day In The Life Of

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the recognizable characters, ideas, places and so on.

**Chapter 6: A Day In The Life Of…**

_Song: 5 O'Clock World_

_By: The Vogues_

**-Sirius' POV-**

It was now mid-October, and Auror Training was no easy task. Sirius lay in bed contemplating his life at present. He didn't know what he had been expecting, but it wasn't this. They had to be at the Ministry at 5:00 every day for their classes and they only got off one day a week; Saturday. It was brilliant and all, learning all there is about being an Auror, but it was hard and exhausting. They had 14-hour days. Most nights, they ate on the go. _There were some good things though;_ Sirius thought to himself, _I get to spend the whole day with my best mate and my girlfriend. _The wedding planning had been going swimmingly, as far as Sirius was concerned anyway. He wasn't quite sure how Rose found the time to plan a wedding on such a tight schedule, but she managed and made it look damn easy in the process. He wasn't fooled though; she was growing tired, and fast. Ah well. It was three months until he would be married; she'd planned the wedding for January 17th.

Sirius rolled over and looked at the clock on the table. It read 3:15; he still had fifteen minutes before he had to wake up and get going. He was up earlier than all the others because he had to make breakfast. He rolled back over and wrapped his arms around Rose, kissing the top of her head gently so as not to disturb her sleep. He got restless and got up to get ready. He began his routine with a shower and brushing his teeth. After that he put on his 'Auror in Training' robes that were to be worn by everyone who was training to be an Auror. They were black, made just the same as regular Auror robes, but instead of the wands crossing it had a patch with one wand. It changed as one progressed with their training. After every two months, which is how long it would take to complete a stage of training, it would change direction. It started out pointing to the right, then it went down, then to the left, and then up to the top. When training had been completed, it would point diagonally and another would join it making the crossing wand symbol that identified the Aurors. Sirius', as well as his friends', were all still pointing to the right; but they were only two weeks from moving on to the next level of training.

He went down to the kitchen and began making breakfast for 9. Remus, Rina and Holly also had to be at work at five. It was an un-godly hour, if you were to ask anyone living in that particular flat, but one that was gotten used to after the first three weeks of not having time to shower or eat. Sirius began the pancakes he loved to make. He put on some waffles as well; James and Remus loved those but didn't much care for pancakes. It was about 4:15 when everyone came down to eat, and about 4:45 when they left for their various classes.

They were working on stealth. Their current teacher was Alastor Moody. He was a paranoid man sometimes, but he had a right to be. He had recently been attacked whilst off duty and he had lost a large chunk of his nose and his right leg. He was back on the job in three days time, though he had a wooden leg.

They got there about five minutes early, as they'd been taught by Moody, so that they could 'examine the scene' and 'get a proper hold on their surroundings'. Honestly, you'd think they were all first years eager to find the best spot for flying class. Sirius sat down in the middle, as usual, and James sat on his right. Rose sat on his left and Lily sat on James right. Alice sat to Rose's left, and Frank to the left of Alice. Peter sat in front of Frank as there was no more room left in that row. This was how they sat every day, and every day they waited for Moody to enter. He came in differently every day, trying to catch them off guard. He had to, the first week, then they'd come to expect it and they had a bet going as to who could guess his next entrance. For today, Sirius bet that he would transfigure himself into a piece of furniture and have had someone put a time delayed re-transfiguration on him so that he would turn back in time to teach the class. He was wrong though, but only just. Moody had transfigured himself into a black owl and flown into the room, and since he had a mind he could transfigure himself back. Lily had won the days bet, as she had guessed an animal transfiguration as it made more sense.

And, as he did every ten minutes, he shouted first thing "CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" It was his motto, and one that he had proved very intelligent. "Today we will begin a two week lesson on non-verbal and wandless spells." He went on in his gruff voice, "The first week here, your skills in non-verbal spell casting were tested and proved to be lacking in many areas. It gives you an advantage, your enemy wont' be able to decipher you next move as easily if they don't see you doing wand movements and hear you saying a spell. You will be expected to use all spells non-verbally at all times from this point forward. CONSTANT VIGILANCE! If you can't cast a shield charm non-verbally, then you'd best get good at dodging spells until you can because if I hear even the beginnings of a spell you'll be dueling with me wandlessly and non-verbally. Now then, into pairs; Potter, Black, Evans, Pearl, Longbottom, Smith, and Pettigrew…I want you seven to mix it up today, none of the usual pairs. Today it'll be Potter and Longbottom, Black, Smith and Evans, and Pearl and Pettigrew. Got it?" they all nodded their heads in understanding of his orders. "Good, get to it.

Sirius, Alice and Lily went off to a portion of the room not in use by any of the others. They began with one on one, Lily vs. Alice, and Sirius would critique while waiting his turn. Lily began with a stinging hex that Alice blocked with a flick of her wand. Alice reciprocated with what Sirius guessed to be a temporary blinding curse. Lily still had her other senses though, and she put them to good use firing off a stunning spell that caught Alice unawares, knocking her out cold.

"Good job Lily," Sirius said while walking over to Alice. "**_Ennervate."_**

"BLACK!" Moody said, walking over to the three friends.

"Oh shit. I said that out loud, didn't I?" Sirius asked, turning to Lily who nodded her head gravely.

"Black, I told you no verbal spells. Up front and hand your wand off to save temptation."

Sirius complied, handing his wand over to Alice as he walked up to the front. Everyone had stopped dueling and had turned to watch as Sirius prepared for the duel to come. Sirius and Moody stood ten feet apart and bowed. Sirius felt like he was completely screwed. He could barely do wandless magic, and that was verbally! He decided to take this as a chance to practice, and maybe, if he got lucky, he could beat Moody. Yeah, right.

The duel began. Sirius saw Moody looking at him, waiting. Moody cast something that came out purple. It must have been the tickling curse, Sirius thought, but he never found out as he dodged it. He preferred dodging to blocking anyway, less magic to focus on maintaining. Sirius set off the leg-locker curse, curious to see what it would do to Moody. It hit him, but it only made his left leg stiffen. Sirius chuckled in spite of himself at the effect of the curse. Moody sent off something that Sirius blocked, unable to identify he thought it best to shield from it instead of just dodging. Sirius cast a _Stupefy_; it missed Moody by inches though. He cast three more consecutive curses; _Incarcerous, Impedimenta _and_ Stupefy_ again. They all diverted to just inches away from hitting Moody. He began to wonder what the hell was making his curses and spells miss Moody, but couldn't quite pin-point it. Moody tried to hit him with a spell that came out red, probably a stunner. Then he remembered James' dad telling him once that Aurors learned a spell to make the ones coming their way go off course. He'd also read about it in one of Lily's many books, there was no counter to it. Moody cast a blue looking thing that had to be the leg-locker he'd tried earlier. He had no choice but to move up a bit, as the diversion spell lost its effect at a closer range. He went up to point-blank range and shot off another stunner that hit Moody in the chest.

When Moody fell, he didn't know what to do, so he went over to look at his teacher's prone form lying on the ground. The class began to clap and James walked over to him to clap him on the back. Lily went up and ennervated Moody, who got up and immediately started criticizing Sirius' form. He didn't care; he knew it was Moody's way of losing that was shining through now. He listened patiently and he took some of Moody's advice, that about not pausing to think while in a duel and to just cast whatever came to mind first.

They were dismissed to lunch after Sirius and Moody were done. The group of friends went down to the cafeteria to get some food. They talked about the recent murders and disappearances. There had been more of the dark 'disappearances' as well as some they believed to be genuine. There had been three deaths recently, one of them was Dawlish. He had been taken out by some Death Eaters during a raid on Wiltshire. They were having a wake for him before the Order meeting the next evening. It began at 7:45, so they had to high-tail it home rather quickly as Sirius and Lily were responsible for the food again…even though Molly always brought some bread pudding. Minerva, as she made them call her, always brought some treacle tart as well.

After eating they went to their afternoon class, again Moody was their teacher, but this time it was a lesson on silent apparition. It had only three lessons to it, but they were to be long lessons. Nobody was expecting an odd entrance as this was not a regular class, but he scared the shit out of everyone when he changed from a desk back into himself. Sirius grinned; he had been partially right about Moody's entrances today.

Moody, of course, began with another lecture. "CONSTANT VIGILANCE! How many times do I have to tell you! You could be killed by an enemy in that moment of surprise they gain by you all dithering on about your dinner for the evening!" There was a sudden silence as everyone in the room stared at their newly transfigured professor. "Silent apparition is a great advantage in battle," Moody began. "You gain a split second of surprise that will confuse your enemy. To apparate silently, it's the same theory as regular apparition; Destination, Determination, Deliberation. The only difference is you also focus on keeping quiet. You think about yourself moving through the air and reappearing silently, that's the theory. Since Black is so good with not making sound…" Lily, Rose and Alice all snorted at this, even though Moody was obviously being sarcastic. "…he'll come up and demonstrating silent apparition for us. If he fails we'll move on through the ranks. Black, get your arse up here and go; apparate from the window to the door."

Sirius thought he could do that, it was only twenty feet after all. He walked over to the window and began concentrating. He thought about the door and he thought about arriving there silently. He did a graceful spin and apparated to the door.

"Close but no cigar Black. You made a noise, although it was diminished from the usual sound, it was still there. Potter, you're up. Same spot, same technique…just do it right."

James walked over to the window. He stood there with his eyes closed for a minute, and then did a similar spin to the one Sirius did and reappeared by the door. Sirius hadn't heard anything, but he waited for Moody's deliberation.

"Excellent work Potter. You nailed it. Potter, you teach Black how it's done," James snickered. "Everyone else, line up behind Evans and begin to practice. If you can get it the first time…do it twice more then go over and give Black some pointers. If not, get to the back of the line and go at it until you get it five times."

Sirius assumed this was Moody's way of getting even for this morning, even though he'd already lectured him on flaws. Ah well, character building exercises and what-not. Maybe he'd be a better person for it; doubtful.

They practiced their silent apparition for the next four hours but nobody else got it on their first try, and only Lily and Alice managed on the second. Sirius hadn't yet gotten it, though you could barely hear him. Nobody finished on the first day, so they'd still be working on just managing the silence part of it for the next class as well. They got done a couple hours early because Moody had gotten fed-up with their incomprehension at this 'simple' task. The group, sans Peter, apparated home. James got there last and, just to show off in Sirius' opinion, he did it silently.

"Where'd you learn that?" Lily asked James. "It's not that I don't think your good at magic or anything, but how'd you do it the first try?"

"My dad taught me when I first got my license. Sirius was, of course, still asleep. This was during his Christmas hibernation, so he didn't learn it. Dad helped me manage it in record time, according to him. He's a great teacher."

"Not fair, you knew beforehand." Sirius said, slightly miffed at himself for sleeping so damn much on his holiday.

"Oh get over it. If you want, we can pop in tonight and you can ask him for a few pointers. I'm sure they won't mind, mum loves seeing you guys."

"Let's," said the ever knowledge thirsty Lily.

That night they did go to Potter Manor. Lily managed to sweet-talk her future father-in-law into some pointers by complimenting him all night. She was helped along by Alice and Rose, who caught on rather quickly. Sirius eventually caught on as well and offered Henry some firewhisky. They got their pointers and went home. The next day, they all managed it on their first attempt. Their training went on and they progressed well in dueling tactics, defensive spells and much more.

**-Remus' POV-**

Remus woke up one morning to Rina's singing in the shower. It was late November and they were well used to their schedule by now, as would be expected of two people doing the same thing every day for three months. Rina would wake up and shower, towards the end she would start singing and would wake up Remus. He would then use the shower; there were charms on all the showers to keep hot water running in them while in use. They'd go down and have breakfast with everyone and then leave for the Ministry's Obliviator department for their lessons. They had to be there at five every day, so they woke up rather early.

Rina was now finished in the bathroom, so Remus got up to take his turn at the shower. When finished he dressed in his Obliviator Trainee robes. They were bale blue with the picture of a brain on the front right. When they completed their training, the patch would be added to by way of fog floating around the now silver-shining brain. It all looked very mysterious. He went down to get some breakfast before he and Rina would apparate to work. They had some eggs and toast, Sirius' choice this morning.

The full-moon had passed the week before, rather a boring evening if one analyzed it. Lily had brewed him the Wolfsbane Potion so that he could keep his mind while transformed. He had taken it and went to the Marauder's room in the flat with the other guys. They had all transformed, him not having an option, and stayed in the room all night. Sirius had gotten bored in five minutes. He began howling different songs at his leisure. The others had eventually joined in; James stomped his hooves, Remus also howled, and Frank made that weird screeching/cawing noise that eagles make. They were drumming out a pretty good beat. They had discussed it and had decided to put some expansion charms on the room and to make a track in there so that they could race on the next full moon. Peter and Regulus weren't their as Peter had to visit home and Regulus was at Hogwarts for another couple weeks until break, but Regulus would be there for the next full-moon and was looking forward to running with them according to his letters.

Remus and Rina ate and then cleaned up, as was part of their morning routine. When they were done, they left for the Ministry. They got there at about five to five. Their class of the day was with Obliviator Johnson. He was teaching them about handling frantic people when trying obliviate.

"You must keep in mind that these people have probably just been through a traumatic situation. They are to be treated just as you would treat a magical person in the same situation. What you do is comfort them until they are calm enough to have their memories modified. You _cannot_ obliviate an overly-emotional muggle because they would have a bad reaction to the magic, unlike wizards who can be obliviated in any mindset; though it will be a mite harder if they're upset." He said this last with a contemplative look on his face, as if he were remembering a past incident. "In fact, I have a memory to show you and a story to tell you. They should give you an understanding of just how much you have got to be careful in modifying someone's memory." Obliviator Johnson pulled out a pensieve that was used to store memories. He took his wand and placed the tip to his temple. He pulled a thin silvery strand from his head, a memory, and placed it in the swirling stone basin. "Now, this memory is of when I was new to the job. I was sent out to Aberdeen to modify a memory after some wizards pranked a muggle." He tapped the pensieve and the memory began playing as a movie in the front of the room.

**-Memory-**

_Johnson was walking down a dirt lane to a group of houses. Some could be called cottages, others would be deemed hovels. He went up to one of the cottages and knocked on the door. _

"_Good day, sir. I am here to talk to you about an incident taking place earlier this morning. I am a Ministry of Magic employee, here to help you understand what happened earlier. Sir, you were attacked by wizards."_

"_By what?"_

"_Wizards. From what I hear, they came upon you and made you hover above the ground while setting huge jets of water at you. Now, understandably this is not-"_

"_Get the HELL off of my land you bastard!"_

"_Now, there's no reason for name-calling. I'm only trying to help you. If you would just calm down, I'm sure-"_

"_Don't you come to _my_ house and tell _me_ to calm down! Go, out of my yard. I don't want you here. GET OUT!"_

"_Sir, yelling is unnecessary. If you will just cooperate we can sort this all out and it will become a non-issue. We can discuss this in a calm and rational manner. Now then, let's just go inside and sort this out." Johnson began walking toward the door but was punched right in the nose. He staggered for a moment before stunning the angry man. He then went into his pocket and pulled out a potion which he poured down the man's throat. He then woke up the 'victim' and tried to talk to him again. "Sir, I have just given you a calming draught as I believed you to be a danger to myself. Now, can we please enter and discuss what has undoubtedly been a horrific experience for you?"_

"_I guess," the man said grudgingly, with a faint glaze to his eyes._

"_Wonderful."_

**-End Memory-**

"From there, we proceeded to talk about what had happened for all of two minutes. It was a short story to tell on his part so we didn't dally. After he told me, I modified his memory and returned to the Ministry to file the report. Can anyone tell me what I did wrong there? Or what could have been done differently?"

"Well," began Rina, "you could have just modified his memory after inquiring about the attack. You didn't have to tell him where you were from. You could have made an alias, say as a reporter or some-such."

"Good Ms. Stone. I could have handled to approach of the questioning much better. Now then, this story is from about a year ago when a man tried to modify his brother's memory. The man, we'll call him Johnny, had been having an affair with his brother's, we'll call the brother Bob, wife, we'll call her Betty. Betty had gotten tired of sneaking around and so she told Bob of the affair. He obviously got pissed at his wife and brother, but decided to go for Johnny first. When Johnny was confronted by his brother he decided it would be best to modify his memory. Remus, what do you think he tried to modify?"

"Well," Remus began to answer, "I would guess the fact that Betty had told Bob."

"Close. He tried to modify his brother's memory so that he believed Johnny had married Betty, not himself. As one could guess, things went badly. Bob is now in St. Mungo's recovering from the memory loss. So, what can be learned from this? Yes, Mr. Lupin."

"It's dangerous to modify someone's memory when they're in any heightened state of emotional distress, such as anger. It is also unwise to try and change someone's memory to encompass a long time-span, probably of more than the past day. If one were to try and modify the memory of an existing marriage, to change all the memories of those two people spending time together, they could ruin a mind. You have to know the details of the memory to be able to modify it, that's why we must question the victims before changing their memories."

"Very good Mr. Lupin. You are correct, you would have to go through memory by memory and erase them one by one to get rid of a person's knowledge of another; and even then there would remain traces of the memories to be found, say a favorite color or a way of taking coffee. Another point you brought up is the amount of time to change a memory effectively. A day is about how long the changing of a memory should be left if one wishes to make the change a permanent one. Now then, I believe it is lunch-time. Go enjoy yourselves and be back by noon."

They left and ate in the cafeteria at the Ministry. They almost never got to eat with the others because of the different time schedules. After they ate they walked around the atrium for a while to pass the time. At ten to noon, they set off for the second half of their class for that day. That afternoon was spent learning different techniques for calming the seemingly insensible.

After class, they went out to eat as they had probably missed dinner. They began to talk of plans for their wedding, and decided on early to mid May. They weren't going to set anything indefinitely yet, though, just in case something was to change. They would start more definite planning in a month or so. They finished dinner and apparated home to watch some evening T.V. with the others before going to bed. Their training continued and they progressed rather well, as both seemed to have an aptitude for memory modifying.

**-Holly's POV-**

Holly woke up at the sound of her alarm clock. It was 4:00 and she had to get ready. She never took that long to get ready for the day. About twenty minutes to shower and get dressed. She wore bright green Trainee Healer robes that had a skull on them. When she finished her training two crossed wands would be added on top of the skull, signifying her position as a Healer for St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. She went down to a warm bowl of porridge and some toast on the cold December morning. It was early in the month and Regulus would be home for a while on his winter break in a week's time. She was so looking forward to seeing him; she missed him terribly. After breakfast she apparated to the hospital and went to meet her new teacher.

They were finishing up their month on the fourth floor, next month they would be on the third. They spent about a month on each ward, and the entire fourth floor was devoted to Spell Damage. They were to study the goings on of the ward for three weeks, then work as an assistant to a healer for the last week. This way, they got the theory and the practical for each ward all done rather quickly. There were five wards, which meant five months. When they had first begun in September, they spent the first three months learning about the various healing spells and about how to use them properly. Things such as what spell to use when were also taught during this time. They got hands on experience for crisis control, as the healers believed this the best method of learning how to handle difficult situations. Though they were taught the spells, they weren't supposed to use them unless told to by a superior or it was a dire situation and they had no other option. The second to the last month would include reviewing and testing. The very last month was to be spent on the ward that one wishes to continue working on. Holly had not worked on the other four wards yet, but she was sure she didn't want to work on the spell damage ward.

There had to be at least fifty commonly used healing spells and another large group of uncommon spells that, to Holly, seemed to have an infinite number. She learned them all though, by hard work and a lot of studying. She was well able to perform them as well, though not given the chance to put them into practice. Today she would begin to shadow Healer Thompson. She would learn everything she could about the ward from her new teacher, and then move on to the next floor with her classmates. In January they would be down to the third floor and learning about the Potion and Plant Poisoning ward. She was eager to work on that floor.

She got to the fourth floor and met up with Healer Thompson. She showed Holly around, even though Holly had been there for the better part of a month, and showed her the area where they kept charts and paperwork. She then brought Holly on her rounds of the part of the ward she was charged with. Holly saw several people who looked extremely unhappy; though many were still asleep it was the people who'd recently been brought in who were causing scenes. One man had been hit with a stray tickling charm that had been performed in an ill-manner. He was trying to yell at the nurse, but the effect was ruined by his obnoxious laughter. Healer Thompson began questioning her on how to remedy this situation.

"Well, I'd first try the counter-charm. If that didn't work then I'd try a calming draught and perhaps a temporary numbing charm; this would depend upon how the patient reacted to the draught."

"Very good, we'll have the nurse try those immediately; now then, on to the next patient. He was hit with a jinx that, as of now, has been unidentifiable. He has sustained cuts upon his abdomen that have not yet been able to be healed. We have been supplying him with a steady dose of blood-replenishing potion and have kept his wounds clean. How would you go about trying to discover the jinx and its counter?"

"I'd start by asking the patient if they had any memory of what the caster said. If not, I'd then inquire as to the nature of the spell; this meaning, its coloring and the speed with which it approached as well as how it first affected him/her. I would then try to deduce the spell and if I couldn't from memory, I'd go to book searching until I found the solution."

"And what if it wasn't in any book? What if you couldn't find it and you could not heal it? What would you do with the patient?"

"I would do as you have; bed-rest and a steady supply of blood replenishing potion. I would also make sure that minimal pain was occurring, supply a pain-killing potion. I would continue my research, both by book and by interviewing others."

"Excellent, I believe you have it down to a science. As it is, we haven't yet found this spells origin and as such have no counter to it. The patient does not remember the spell or its details. We have begun to research the possibilities that exist for such results but have so far been unsuccessful. Would you happen to know what caused this?"

"May I see the wounds?" Thompson nodded. Holly examined the cut marks across the man's abdomen. They were thin cuts, each several inches in length. They bled slowly but surely and steadily and had little coloring around the edges. "Would it be possible that someone combined a hex with a spell? Because it looks to me like a _Diffindo_ put under a repetitive spell to make the cuts continually reopen and bleed."

"Why do you say that?" asked Healer Thompson, sounding intrigued.

"Well, the cuts are bleeding at a steady pace. They don't bleed all at once then stop. Plus, the cuts have very little coloring about them which leads me to think that they are simply being reopened and new cuts not being added."

"That sounds plausible. Why don't you try the anti-repetitive and see what comes of it."

"**_Antiro Resumo_**." The bleeding slowed and stopped. The cuts sat there, looking even less pink than before. Thompson nodded for Holly to continue with the healing. "**_Redintegro_**." The cuts healed over and the scars began to vanish slowly.

"Excellent, excellent. You know, you have a future in healing. With your sharp wit, I wouldn't be surprised if one day you became Head Healer. Take your lunch and be back in an hour, it's well deserved."

Holly left and found some of the others from her group in the cafeteria on the fifth floor. She sat and ate with them and told them of her morning, receiving many an awed look. After lunch she returned to the ward and solved two more cases before leaving for home. On her way out the building, Holly thought about her day and decided that maybe the Spell Damage Ward wasn't all that bad. She went home to have dinner with the others and watch 'The Wizard of Oz' with her friends. Lily said it was a great movie, but everyone laughed at the part where the 'wizard' was behind the curtain and pretending to do magic. She couldn't wait to go to work tomorrow, but even more she couldn't wait for Regulus to come home for winter break.

**_A/N: Alright. Another oldie for the song, but I thought it fit. I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. I tried my best to keep the business about St. Mungo's wards as close to the fifth book as possible. Next chapter will have some more of the training, Christmas and some other stuff. More romance to, but not a sickening amount…just enough to satisfy the romantic streak in some people. I don't want to focus on their love lives _too_ much. Anyway, reviews and suggestions are welcome as always!_**


	8. In The Year 1979

DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Harry Potter or any of the recognizable characters, ideas, places, etc… Now that that's cleared up…enjoy!

_**A/N: Sorry it took so long, I had writers block and I had stuff to do with the family. Enjoy the story, hopefully it was worth whatever wait you've had to read it.**_

**Chapter 7: In The Year 1979…**

_Song: You Can't Hurry Love_

_By: The Supremes_

_**January**_

**-Sirius' POV-**

It was two days 'till the wedding and Sirius had finally made a big decision, one that he was going to consult Rose on now. He found her sitting in the living room watching TV with Lily. She looked beautiful. She was in her pajamas; some long, pale blue, pants made of silk and a matching tank-top that said _'bride-to-be'_ on it, it had been a gift from the other girls and she'd been wearing them every night for the past few nights. Her lovely brown hair was pulled back in a pony-tail that was beautiful despite its simplicity. Something made her laugh, which in turn made him smile. Her laugh was contagious and it lit up the room to his eyes. He couldn't stop gazing at her, but he had to talk to her about this soon. He decided a couple more minutes wouldn't hurt anything and continued to gaze upon her adoringly.

They were going to be married at Hogwarts, in the Great Hall, so that Regulus could be there. Dumbledore, who was performing the ceremony, said it was too dangerous to let a student go about…no matter how well protected that student might be. Not that that mattered anyway, they would have snuck him out of the school. They wanted to be married at the castle anyway as it held their best memories and they wanted it to have another for them. Lily and James had also decided to be married in Hogwarts' Great Hall come March 22nd.

He decided that he should tell her before he forgot altogether to mention it. He walked over and tapped her on the shoulder. When she turned to smile at him he returned it and gestured with his chin towards the kitchen where they could talk in private. She got up and began to walk with him, hand-in-hand, to the kitchen. When they got there, he pulled out a chair for her to sit on and then joined her at the table.

"Ok, I've made a decision that I hope will coincide with yours. I want to have all the Marauders as my best men."

"That's just because you can't choose, isn't it? No matter though, I couldn't choose either, when it came down to it. So then, what do we do about Peter? He doesn't have a girlfriend. I suppose I could have my sister fill in that place. I'm sure Laureola won't mind. I'll give her a ring. Then, we can get everyone together and inform them of our choice. You should call Peter, call him before I call Laura…she's a chatterbox."

Sirius went over and gave Rose a kiss and whispered to her to 'go along with me for a minute later on, just humor me'. She nodded and, with that, Sirius called Peter and asked him to come over in all-due-haste. Peter had gotten to the flat by the time Rose was done talking with her sister, which was nearly a half-hour for something so simple. They gathered everyone in the living room and began.

**-Rose's POV-**

"Alright," Sirius began. "We have made a very important decision. We…are going to call off the wedding." Rose tried to not look shocked like the others, remembering what Sirius had said earlier in the kitchen. She decided to play along for a while. She knew that there would be some interesting reactions from their friends and wanted to see what they were before speaking up. Lily went wide-eyed, as did Alice and Holly. Rina began spluttering incoherently. Remus and Frank looked shocked as all hell. Peter just looked at them, confused as ever. James, however, took the vocal approach. He seemed indignant, she noted briefly before he set off with the shouting.

"WHAT THE BLOODY HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? You two are MADE FOR EACH OTHER! What could have possibly made you decide this so close to the wedding?" His voice suddenly turned to one of cold fury as he saw Sirius laughing his arse off and me smiling maliciously. "_You are going to pay, Padfoot. _You'll be lucky if there's anything left to marry in two days time, Rose!" At this he jumped over the back of the couch, where he'd been standing, and drew his wand aiming it at Sirius' face. Remus and Frank quickly joined in as realization hit them not two seconds after it had hit James. Sirius looked at her with pleading in his eyes. He had also drawn his wand for protection, but obviously didn't want to hex his best mates.

"Now, now boys, you have to leave him be until after the wedding photos; then you can do to him whatever you like." When she finished, Sirius looked betrayed. She just smiled at him, having done her part in protecting their wedding photos. She knew the boys wouldn't mess with her wedding for fear of the ladies wrath. She had always loved that saying 'hell hath no fury like a woman's scorn'. She turned back to the others, who were waiting for the real announcement. "We have decided on our best man and maid-of-honor. Or, rather, our best men and maids-of-honor. We couldn't decide who to pick, as you're all such good friends, that we've chosen all of you. Regulus will also be a best man, and to make an even number of girls and guys, my sister Laura will be a part of the wedding party as well. Now then, that's it. Feel free to go back to your prior engagements." She turned to leave, but before she could she was engulfed by her four best friends' hugs. She turned to see Sirius being given similar treatment; his hair was being ruffled and he was being patted on the back, rather hard pats, by James.

That accomplished for the evening, they all decided to watch a movie. Sirius had brought home a movie called _Animal House_ because he thought the title interesting. It was about a year old, but it had caught his interest anyhow on one of his muggle shopping excursions. They put it in the VCR and the song came on, a tune that sounded like muggle classical music. They were all thinking, though none of them saying it, that this movie was going to be a bore. They watched as the friends left the first 'frat-house' and went to the next. Then it got interesting. The entire room became enraptured by the movie and watched until the end, laughing at all the best parts. When Bluto smashed his cheeks and proclaimed himself a pimple, they all burst out laughing. Rose's eyes were watering from such laughter by the end of the movie. They were discussing the movie for a long time, into the wee hours of the morning. When they came to the part about 'shooting' the horse in the headmaster's office, she saw a familiar glint in the eyes of every Marauder. She guessed they were reminiscing about past times, even though they hadn't all been on that particular excursion.

She and Sirius had snuck into Dumbledore's office while he was gone one day, not an easy feat by any means, and they had transfigured his desk into a unicorn. Not a real unicorn, of course, but a decent replication of the one they'd seen in Care of Magical Creatures. When they'd told the story, even Lily had had to laugh about it.

They finished their talk, and all went to bed that night chanting 'Toga! Toga! Toga!' They had, what was to be one of their last as an unmarried couple, a peaceful nights sleep.

**-James' POV-**

_It's Sirius' wedding day,_ James thought upon waking. He began to get into some light robes that he would change out of at Hogwarts later. Rose had gone to the castle yesterday afternoon with the other ladies so that she wouldn't see Sirius until their wedding. Lily said it was some sort of muggle tradition. He went to wake Sirius up, the great lump, but found his bed already vacated. He listened with his newly acquired Auror senses and heard Sirius begin singing _Some Kind of Wonderful_ by Grand Funk Railroad. It was one of his favorite songs, and had been since it came out a few years ago. He loved muggle music, as did all of them, but Sirius had a particular liking as it was one more thing that pissed his mum off.

"_I don't need a whole lot of money;_

_I don't need a big bright car. _

_I got everything that a man could want;_

_I got more than I could ask for. _

_I don't have to run-around; _

_I don't have to stay out all night. _

'_Cause I got me a sweet - a sweet lovin' woman; _

_And she knows just how to treat me right._

James decided to listen. He, too, like the song and Sirius was a pretty good singer when he wasn't drunk and rowdy.

_Well my baby, she's all right;_

_Well my baby, she's clean out of sight._

_Don't ya know that she's – she's some kind of wonderful;_

_She's some kind of wonderful, yes she is;_

_She's some kind of wonderful._

_Yeah yeah yeah yeah._

_When I hold her in my arms;_

_You know she sets my soul on fire._

_Ooh when my baby kisses me;_

_My heart becomes filled with desire._

_When she wraps her lovin' arms around me;_

_It about drives me outta my mind._

_Yeah when my baby kisses me;_

_Chills me up and down my spine._

_Now my baby, she's all right;_

_My baby, she's clean out of sight._

_Don't ya know that she's – she's some kind of wonderful;_

_She's some kind of wonderful, yes she is;_

_She's some kind of wonderful._

_Yeah yeah yeah yeah._

_Now is there anybody;_

_Got a sweet little woman like mine._

_There's gotta be somebody;_

_Got a sweet little woman like mine._

_Now can I get a witness;_

_Can I get a witness_

_Well can I get a witness_

James cut him off there as the song got a little repetitive after a bit. "Well, I'll be your witness mate." James said, loud enough to be heard over the singing and the shower. "Lily's pretty damn sweet herself, if I do say so myself…and I do, so there!" Sirius had stopped at the interruption, but decided to carry on and James heard him pick up where he left off. "Just hurry it up in there; you don't want to be late for your _wedding_." That got Sirius moving, apparently, because he was out of the shower in five minutes and had come down to the kitchen. He just sat there staring at the table. James offered him food, but it was refused which startled everyone…the others had also come down to breakfast.

"What is it, mate?" Remus asked with awe in his voice, awe at the fact that Sirius was turning away food. "You're not honestly that nervous, are you?"

"So what if I am? I mean, I know were meant for each other, but there're still those nerves everyone has. James, why didn't you and Lily get married first so I'd know what to expect?"

"Because, we all had a meeting and decided that yours was to be the crash-test wedding. We planned it all out so that you'd never suspect a thing, but you foiled us in our evil plot to make you nervous on your wedding day. However will we live with ourselves after this tragic incident of Sirius being nervous about such a _huge_ step in his life?" All of this was said with extreme sarcasm that got the point across to Sirius that it wasn't his fault they'd set their wedding before his own.

Sirius frowned for a moment then, apparently more calm and more himself, asked for some eggs and toast to be passed his way.

**-Lily's POV-**

Lily woke up with a smile. Last night had been fun; they had spent a great part of the evening discussing today and what would happen. Rose was slightly sad that her father was unable to walk her down the aisle at her wedding, as he and her mum had died when she was about 16 in a car crash. She had cried for a little bit, but had gotten over it and began to chatter excitedly about the wedding. Her sister would be coming to the castle in about an hour. Dumbledore would be placing charms on her to make her able to see and enter the castle as she is a muggle and wouldn't be able to enter any other way and then he would show her to their room.

Lily got up and got dressed in a plain black robe with a pair of jeans and a tank-top underneath it and went to wake up Rose. When she got there though, she was awake and in the shower. She was humming a muggle tune from the mid-sixties that Lily recognized as _You're the One _by The Vogues. Lily smiled to herself and the words to the song floated across her mind. _Every time we meet…everything is sweet…ooh you're so tender…I must surrender…my love is your love…for now and forever…you're the one that I long to kiss…baby you're the one that I really miss…you're the one that I'm dreamin' of… baby you're the one that I love…_ Lily shook her head and knocked on the door.

"Rose! Hurry up in there, you have to eat then begin getting ready. I'll be in the Great Hall." With that she departed to the Great Hall. The children who were still here had been told to keep in their common rooms for the day; food would be brought from the kitchens to individuals as there weren't that many to begin with. When she walked through the door to the Great Hall, she was gob-smacked. It seemed that Dumbledore and the staff had pulled out all the stops for their former pupils.

The hall was decorated with white fabric hanging about the walls. Some red, rose-red, was mixed in as well as those were the color of the maids-of-honor's dresses. There were many smaller tables, each able to seat about fifteen, placed around the room upon which sat centerpieces of red and white roses; the red and white roses together symbolized unity and understanding. Rose would carry a bouquet of white roses that symbolized happiness while the female portion of the wedding party would carry bouquets of red roses that denoted their respect of the couple.

The wedding would begin in about four hours, at 11:00. She waited on Rose and when she finally came down there was some toast waiting for her. They ate in silence then got up to join the others in preparing for the day. Rose had had her own room last night, but the other four had shared a room with a bed for each; it was a lot like their old dorm room, especially when they stayed up late talking about the boys. The guys were going to be apparating in to Hogsmeade any time now, this was another of Lily's motivations for getting Rose out of the hall quickly; she didn't want to let Rose see Sirius before the ceremony, Rose didn't want to either. All of their friends thought it strange, but they accepted that it was a muggle tradition that was to be followed on their friends' wedding day. They went up to Rose's room, where the other girls had convened for ceremony preparations.

They walked in to find all the girls chattering excitedly in their bath-robes waiting for their instructions on how to help. They immediately began with each other's make-up and hair; Rose's was to be done last so it would last longer. Alice was first up. The maids-of-honor were all going to be curling their hair loosely and leaving it down. For make-up, they didn't need much as their daily hygiene spells took care of blemishes and any markings from unattained sleep. They were quickly done with everyone's hair and make-up, all accept for Rose's.

Rose's hair was to be curled loosely. It would be brought back behind her head in a low pony-tail and clipped up onto the back of her head with magic, several strands trailing down gracefully. Her face was radiant enough with out adding make-up, so Lily just added a touch of a pale cream eye-shadow. Then, everyone was ready to put on their dresses. The maids-of-honor dresses were floor-length and made of satin. The top half had somewhat thick straps and was made to look like a bodice, lacing up in the back and with a decent neckline that began at the straps as a square but then turned to a v; it was a deep shade of red, almost burgundy. The rose-red a-line skirt flowed gracefully around the girls waists and accented their figures well, but not enough to detract attention from the vision that was Rose.

Rose's dress was much like the others. It was of purest white satin. The top half was a strapless bodice that was laced up in the back with silver ribbon. The bodice was decorated with silver stitching in the form of vines trailing from the top of the bodice to the v at her waist where the satin skirt began. The skirt was also of purest white material and had an elegant way of flowing down from her waist to her feet. It had a short train in the back, just long enough to drag a little, but not so long as to reach to London and back. Her veil was of thin, nylon tulle, a muggle veil to go with her muggle dress…she thought it fitting. It had an inch thick strip of satin edging and was attached to her hair via clip. It draped down in elegant swoops and reached the lower portion of her back. She truly looked like one of the fairy princesses her mother would tell her of before she discovered she was a witch. She put on her white 2" pumps and Lily was satisfied that Rose was ready to get married.

Rose's sister had come to join them about an hour ago. It was now 10:30 and the ceremony was set to begin at 11:00. Rose was to be walked down the aisle by Moody in lieu of her father. She had asked him a few weeks ago after a training session. They had today off as it was Saturday, so he had agreed and been taken off-duty for the day. Lily sat contemplating what she would do if she had to have someone other than her father walk her down the aisle. She thought about all the people she could ask and then she stopped thinking about it altogether as her father would surely be alive in late March to give her away at her own wedding and for a long time after. A knock on the door brought her back to her senses and she and the other girls grabbed their bouquets and headed for the portrait hole to meet Moody and begin the ceremony.

**-Rose's POV-**

Rose went out of the portrait first and greeted Moody.

"Hello, sir. How are you today?"

"Oh, well enough I expect. How about you? Nervous yet?"

"Well, I had some butterflies, but they have thoroughly abandoned me now, sir. I thank you again for acting in place of my father; it means a great deal to me that you would do so."

"Not a problem, you and Black have become two of my best students. I don't think I've ever had such a talented group to teach as you seven. Besides, you've kind of grown on me."

Rose smiled at that. They had started out at odds because of her hot-headedness and her willingness to argue for hours on theories that went against Moody, even if she didn't agree with them. They began the walk to the Great Hall. When they reached the final staircase to the entrance hall, she and Moody descended slowly so as not to trip on her dress and his wooden leg. They got to the bottom and the other girls took the lead to meet up with their partners for walking down the aisle. She and Moody stood off to the side of the door so that when they opened to admit the others, she wouldn't be seen yet.

First in went Lily and James, closely followed by Holly and Regulus then Rina and Remus. After them went Frank and Alice and bringing up the rear were her sister Laura and Peter. The doors closed again for a moment after the last couple. She and Moody moved in front of the doors and waited for them to open up again. They slowly began to open and she saw the hall, all decked out in red and white. The tables were full of people. Her eyes immediately went to the front, to Sirius. His mouth was hanging open at sight of her and she smiled at him. James turned and looked at Sirius then gently shut his mouth for him and turned back to looking at the doors. Everyone in the hall had stood up by now. On her way up the aisle with Moody, she noticed the Weasleys and her former professors. She noticed a few Aurors, and some from her classes. Some people from the Order were there as well.

She looked up to the front again and saw Dumbledore smiling at her. They finally got to the front and Moody let go her arm and sat down by McGonagall. Dumbledore began; "We are here to day to witness the marriage of Rosemary Jasmine Pearl to Sirius Orion Black. As per the usual ceremony, the bride and groom have memorized their vows beforehand and shall now recite them. You may begin, Rosemary."

Rose, looking into Sirius' eyes began reciting her vows. The world seemed to not exist around them, it was as if they were the only two in the room and she spoke only for him.

"I, Rose, ask you, Sirius, to be my husband as my friend and my love. Together we will dream, we will stumble but restore each other, we will share all things. Our miracle lies in the path we have chosen together. In the future, happy occasions will come as surely as the morning and difficult times will come as surely as the night, but we shall weather them together. I enter into this marriage with you knowing that the true magic of love is not to avoid changes, but to navigate them successfully. I humbly give you my hand and my heart as a sanctuary of warmth and peace." She turned to Lily and took from her the ring she had gotten Sirius, a simple white-gold band, and placed it upon the ring finger on his left hand.** "**Just as this circle is without end, my love for you is eternal. Just as it is made of incorruptible substance, my commitment to you will never fail. I choose you as the person with whom I will spend my life. I will stay with you as long as we shall Live, freed and bound by our Love."

She finished her vows and felt a complete sense of joy nearly overwhelm her, but she held onto it and listened as he recited his vows.

**-Sirius' POV-**

He was waiting anxiously for the wedding to begin. His doubts had vanished as he thought about how much he truly loved Rose. It was about 9:45 and they had just apparated to Hogsmeade and walked to the castle. They were in a room provided by Dumbledore to get ready. The guys were all wearing black dress robes with red ties and a red rose in their lapels. Sirius himself was wearing a more detailed set of dress robes that were also black but were more of a crossover with a muggle tuxedo than the others'. He had a silver tie and a white rose in his lapel, to match Rose's outfit…or so he'd been told. He still didn't understand the whole 'not seeing the bride before the wedding thing' but had humored his wife-to-be as she and Lily had assured him it was bad luck to see her before the ceremony.

Regulus had met them at their room about fifteen minutes ago and was now getting changed into his own robes. They passed the time by playing with muggle cards because exploding snap was to messy and wizard chess took to long. He looked up and it was 10:15. They had been told to be downstairs at 10:25 for further instruction. He got up and told the others it was time to go. He was completely relaxed now.

They walked down to the entrance hall where McGonagall smiled at him and told him to take his place at the front of the room. The others were to wait out in the entrance hall for the girls. He went to the front as told and stood their, watching the door like a hawk. Dumbledore came in and told him that the ceremony was all set and would begin momentarily. Then he started to think. _What if she doesn't want to marry me anymore? What if she's changed her mind?_ The longer he thought, the more lucid his thoughts became. _What if she's got lost? What if she got hurt on her way down? I mean, I know she's with Moody and all her friends…but what if they were all attacked?_ His thoughts and worries all stopped as he saw the doors open and Lily and James enter. They were followed by Regulus and Holly, Remus and Rina, Frank and Alice, then Peter and Laura. The doors closed again and he almost started his insane train of thoughts up again, when James nudged him and said she was out there with Moody, just waiting for the cue. Good old Prongs, he always knew just what to say. He was right, in a moment the doors opened again.

His first thought upon seeing her was, _Merlin she's beautiful._ His second thought was; _I don't deserve her_. He suddenly felt James push his jaw up and assumed it had dropped open when he saw Rose in all her glory. He noticed everyone was standing, but only distantly as he was watching Rose. She smiled at him and kept walking with Moody down the aisle. She got up there and he looked into her eyes and was overtaken with happiness at the thought of how lucky he was that he'd found her.

Dumbledore began his part at the beginning, and then Rose said her vows. He heard her, but only distantly. When she finished, he smiled and began his own recitation of the vows.

"I, Sirius, ask you, Rose, to be my wife as my friend and my love. Together we will dream, we will stumble but restore each other, we will share all things. Our miracle lies in the path we have chosen together. In the future, happy occasions will come as surely as the morning and difficult times will come as surely as the night, but we shall weather them together. I enter into this marriage with you knowing that the true magic of love is not to avoid changes, but to navigate them successfully. I humbly give you my hand and my heart as a sanctuary of warmth and peace." He turned to James and took the ring with a Celtic design around the white-goldband and placed it upon her left hand's ring finger. "Just as this circle is without end, my love for you is eternal. Just as it is made of incorruptible substance, my commitment to you will never fail. I choose you as the person with whom I will spend my life. I will stay with you as long as we shall Live, freed and bound by our Love."

Dumbledore then started speaking again. "Then, by the power vested in me, in the name of Merlin, Man, and Magic, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss your bride." Sirius didn't hesitate to oblige with a short, but passionate, kiss to his wife. "I give you," Dumbledore said to the crowd, "Mr. and Mrs. Sirius Black." Everyone in the hall cheered and clapped. Their friends all surrounded them with hugs and congratulations. They stepped down from the stand at the front and it was transfigured into a table big enough for their entire wedding party. They took their seats and listened to everyone around them very little as they looked into each others eyes. Then music came on and Sirius heard James announce the first dance as a married couple. He stood up and offered his hand to Rose with a flourishing bow which she accepted with a formal curtsy of her own.

They walked out onto the dance floor and began dancing to, what Sirius registered as their song, _More Today than Yesterday_ by Spiral Staircase. It was awkward to dance to, but they made it work with a combination of dances. When the song was done, they returned to their seats to be greeted with the sound of clinking glasses. They kissed each other then sat down and waited for the inevitable speeches to begin. It seemed James was up first.

"Alright; we all know Sirius and/or Rose fairly well. What is probably not well known is how they met." Sirius began blushing helplessly and next to him Rose was flushing a deep shade of red as well. "It was a fine October day, several years past. Sirius and I had been playing exploding snap in the halls, again, and were being taken in for punishment by Mr. Filch, again. We got to his office and were seated and told of our 'ruining the school' and 'defiling property' and the like. We were about to defend ourselves when Mr. Filch was called off to deal with yet another young miscreant, much like ourselves. He ordered us to stay where we were and left murmuring about thumbscrews and how it would teach us to respect the school. When he returned, he had in tow a fourteen year-old Rose. He ignored us at first and we couldn't _help_ but overhear what she'd done. Apparently, she was a troublemaker like us who had cursed a certain Malfoy to look like a woman, not much of a stretch, in a pink tutu with a very high-pitched voice…the effects of which were unable to be stopped by anyone but the caster. The caster being Rose, of course, she refused to remove the hexes and concocted a story as to why. Her story, and she kept it up the whole while, was that 'Honestly, Mr. Filch. I didn't know that that spell did that. I thought it was to make him feel as if he was being tickled. How was I supposed to know that saying ballerina after _clotherio_ would dress him as such irreversibly?' At this point, Mr. Filch was red from frustration. He decided to add his two cents that 'How could anyone in their fourth year _not_ know what happens when you do that.' Filch was forced to let her go for lack of proof and had gotten flustered enough to not notice us follow her out. Our interest was piqued by this girl who had not only gotten herself out of trouble, but us as well. Sirius couldn't stop talking about her. It's rumored that he talked about her more than I talked about Lily that week."

"Well, they began dating a couple of years later, and I don't think I've seen them argue once yet. They both love Quidditch, troublemaking, mischief, and they're both dead stubborn as well. It's as if they're one person. I know these two are made for one another, as they're the only ones who could handle each other. I wish them the best of luck and all the happiness that they deserve. To Sirius and Rose!" He raised his glass and drank to them and was mirrored by all in the hall. Lily spoke up next.

"Alright, I'm not quite so long winded as James, but I have a few words to say concerning the new couple. When I met Rose, we immediately became friends. We got along perfectly well and we had our fun. When I met Sirius, we argued and we didn't get on well at all. I never would have thought that those two would have got together, but it makes perfect sense to me now. They're one in the same, really. They love each other deeply and I hope they continue to live with love and happiness, but most importantly, with each other…for with each other, they have it all. To Rose and Sirius!" She also raised her glass and was also mimed by all in attendance.

The reception had much dancing and food and happiness. Sirius and Rose were going to be staying the night at Hogwarts, as were the rest of their wedding party. They had no time for a honeymoon just yet, as training couldn't be missed, but would have one sooner or later. They didn't really care, so long as they were together. They made it to their room and spent the night enjoying being a married couple.

The next morning they went to the flat rather early to get ready for training. Over the next week they were still in a state of blissful spirits. Sirius kept referring to Rose as Mrs. Black. They were extremely happy; they were content as could be with the world. They couldn't wait for their friends to get married and have a similar sense of joy and peace with the world.

_**March**_

**-Lily's POV-**

It was early March now, Saturday the 2nd to be exact. Lily awoke to the sound of an owl pecking at the window. _Who sends an owl at two in the morning?_ She got up and opened the window for the blasted bird to come in before everyone in the house was awoken by it. She untied the scroll and noticed it was Dumbledore's writing. She quickly unfurled the parchment and sent the owl away with a small treat. She quickly read through the note, then again thinking she'd read it wrong. She woke James up then started getting ready quickly. She had to see Dumbledore straight away.

**-James' POV-**

"James! James, wake up! We have to go see Dumbledore immediately!"

James sat up quickly. A visit to Dumbledore? Early in the morning? Lily sounding panicked? He wasted no time in questions and got dressed and went with her to the floo in their living room as it would be quicker than apparating to Hogsmeade. When they got to Dumbledore's office, he told them to sit down and he looked very serious.

"Lily, James. I'm sorry to have awoken you so early, but what I've got to say can't wait long. Steps must be taken. Lily, I was informed a short while ago that there had been a Death Eater raid in Surry." _Uh oh,_ James thought, _isn't that where Lily's parents and sister live?_ "Lily, you're parents house was set on fire and there were two bodies found inside. They have been identified as your parents; we have not been able to locate your sister. Have you any idea where she might be?"

"Yeah, she should be safe. She was going on a ski trip with her fiancée. Professor, my parents; they're really gone?" She sounded shocked, on the verge of tears. James grabbed her hand.

"I'm afraid so, Lily. It looked as though they had been hit with _Avada Kedavra_, then they burned in the houses conflagration. I'm terribly sorry this has happened. If there's anything we can do. I'll let the muggle police know where your sister is so they can inform her of the incident."

"Thank you, professor." She was crying now, James felt so helpless to do anything so he pulled her over to sit on his lap so he could cradle her in his arms. Dumbledore left them, saying he'd give them a moment alone. They must have sat there like that, Lily crying on James' shoulder, for hours. Dumbledore finally came back in, Madame Pomfrey in tow.

Madame Pomfrey insisted that Lily go to the hospital wing for a calming draught and some more sleep, so James offered to carry her there. When they got there all their friends were waiting, having flooed directly to the hospital when Dumbledore told them of the news. He laid Lily down on one of the beds and began walking away, but she pulled his hand and asked him to stay so he lay down next to her and held her in his arms. Madame Pomfrey came with the calming draught and the dreamless sleep potions that were used often in cases of grief. Lily took them and began to drift off, when she was completely asleep he went to talk to the others.

"She got an owl this morning from Dumbledore, requesting an immediate meeting." He began relating the information to his friends who were all sitting down on a couple of beds, except for Peter who hadn't been told yet. Sirius said he was going to get Regulus and Rose and Holly went with him. James sat and talked idly with Alice, Frank, Remus and Rina for a while. They were eventually joined by the others, who then joined in on the idle talk. Some food was brought up from the kitchens and they ate in a solemn silence, waiting for Lily to wake up. She finally came round at about two in the afternoon and James went to her side at once.

She started to cry again so they gave her another calming draught but let her stay awake this time. It was after supper that they went home to let Lily rest some more. They had taken a few bottles of dreamless sleep potion upon Madame Pomfrey's insistence that Lily would need them for the next few nights, and she was right. For the next few nights, Lily couldn't get to sleep without one. She continued going to training, but James noticed she was distracted most of the time.

**-Lily's POV-**

Lily was sitting in the living room the evening of March 17th, five days before her wedding. She was still very upset by the loss of her parents. Their funeral had been two weeks ago and James had been there for her the entire time. This had strengthened her resolve to marry him on Saturday. He had offered to post-pone the wedding until she was feeling better, but she had insisted upon keeping their date. She was so glad she found such an understanding man; he was always making her fell safe and comfortable. Training was going well, she was still a little distracted but James had begun taking better notes for her to use since hers had been terrible at best the past few weeks.

Sirius had taken over all of the cooking, not letting her lift a hand to help at all. He had made her some of her favorite chocolate chip cookies; that she herself had taught him to make. Her other friends had been doing things to help her out as well; she didn't feel that she deserved such treatment, but every time she tried to refuse politely they insisted and told her to go rest. She was rested enough for the next ten years; she wanted things to go back to normal now. She decided she would make an announcement tonight over dinner, as everyone had gotten of early and she didn't foresee them stopping unless she asked them forcefully.

Sirius was, as usual, making supper. It was ready, or so his shout that spread through the house led her and everyone else to believe. She walked to the kitchen to meet her friends for some dinner. They began eating and Lily decided it was time to speak up.

"Sirius, this is wonderful."

"Thank you, I try." He was being sarcastic, but of course he did try. "I'm glad you're enjoying it. I decided to try something new tonight. I put some garlic in the spaghetti sauce."

"Really, well it's a nice addition. Look guys, I have to say something. I appreciate you all being so nice and all, but I need things to get back to normal. I need to start doing stuff again or I'll go stir-crazy. I don't need any more rest, and I'd like to pick up my share of the chores and note-taking. I love that you guys are there for me, but I need to start moving on." She said this with a lot of gratitude and conviction in her voice. She was determined to start things back to normal.

"Well then, if you're sure you're ready, I could use some Wolfsbane for Thursday." Remus was obviously giving her a chance to back out if she didn't want to brew it.

"I'd love to, Remus. It's not a problem at all." She said this with relief in her voice at finally having something to do. "I'll take care of the dishes, and then I'll go start on it straight away." When she got up to do the dishes, James got up to help her; they always did the dishes together, he'd just been taking their turn by himself lately. They finished up rather quickly, with some flicking of soap bubbles included. She went to begin the potion, feeling useful for the first time in days. Remus came with, as he liked to watch the potion brewing and to help whenever possible. It was still being helped, but it was a step up from doing nothing at all.

**-James' POV-**

_Ow,_ was James' first thought upon waking. They'd had a night full of drinking last night, as his send-off to the married world. He went to the bathroom and took a headache potion as he'd forgotten his anti-hangover potion the night before. He took a shower and put on some jeans and a t-shirt and went down to breakfast. His friends were all sitting over large cups of coffee.

"Morning guys," he greeted his friends, who all glared at him. "What, no headache potions for you all? I've got some extra in my bathroom if you want." Remus and Frank immediately got up and raced to the stairs to get to the potion. Sirius was just grinning over his batch of eggs and toast.

"I tried to tell them to make some a few days ago, remembering my own bachelor party, but they wouldn't hear of it. I had some in my room left-over from that. Peter's still asleep on the couch; I didn't have the heart to wake him up; at least not without you." Peter had also come for their little soirée. Regulus wasn't 'allowed' to leave Hogwarts, so Sirius had apparated him back at about 3 this morning to Hogsmeade where he snuck back in.

"Ah, well. When do they ever listen to the voice of experience? So, we'll be leaving for Hogwarts in a few minutes, right?" The girls had spent the previous night at Hogwarts as they had for Sirius' and Rose's wedding. They were having group best men and maids of honor as well; in fact, everyone had decided that was the best way to go about it.

"Sure thing; just as soon as those gits get themselves back down here. Let's go get Peter up, shall we?"

**-Sirius' POV-**

After waking Peter up, they all apparated to Hogsmeade and made the short trek up to the school. They went to the same room as before to get ready in. It was a Hogsmeade day, and the younger students had been told to stay in their dorms just like for his wedding so they were to be uninterrupted. They went in and put on their dress robes; Sirius and James had merely switched their dress robes as they wore the same size. All the guys wore green ties and had some type of white lilies in their lapels. James had on a white tie and the same type of flower adorning his lapel. They finished getting ready at about 10:00, so they still had a half-hour to go until they were required downstairs. They'd pass the time playing muggle cards like last time.

**-Rose's POV-**

She woke up and smiled. She wasn't going to be the only married woman in the apartment anymore. It was Lily's turn to tie the knot. She got up and found Lily waiting for her to get ready down in their common room. They'd had similar arrangements to last time, this time Lily got her own room. They went down to eat with the others and Rose noted the decoration.

It was very similar to those of her own wedding. There was white fabric draped along the walls and emerald green material draping from the ceiling beams. There were calla lilies in the centerpieces at the tables on top of white linen. It was beautiful, to say the least. They ate quickly and went back to their room to get ready. From what Rose had heard, Lily had asked her sister to be one of her bride's maids and her sister had agreed rather reluctantly to do so. Rose had also overheard Lily asking Moody to walk her down the aisle as he had for Rose. Moody had agreed readily, having had suspicions this would happen after Lily's parents had been murdered.

They all did their own hair, as it was a simple enough styling. They straightened their hair and pulled it back, half-up half-down. They got into their dresses when they were done with their hair. The dresses, a beautiful shade of emerald green, were wonderful. They were floor length silk. They had a scoop-neck with a slight draping of fabric hanging from the low cut back.

Then they helped Lily with her hair, a more intricate styling yet still rather simple. They put loose curls in her long red mane of hair and left it down. She began putting on her dress. It was white satin with an a-line skirt. The top half had a v-neckline in the front and in the back it cut a v down to the middle of her back. The straps were about an inch thick. The dress had some white-on-white embroidery on the hem of her skirt, that of lilies. It looked absolutely magnificent on her. Her veil was floor length with flowers along the edging. It was attached to a tiara that had been a gift from her mother when she and James had announced their engagement. The tiara had fit perfectly upon her head and the encrusted diamonds sparkled in the light. She put on her shoes and was ready to go.

Moody came to the door and escorted Lily down the corridor. Rose thought she overheard Lily thanking Moody for walking her down the aisle. They got to the entrance hall and met the men waiting outside the doors.

**-James' POV-**

They left for the Great Hall at 10:30 and James walked up to the front. He saw his parents sitting near the front talking and laughing jovially. He also spotted the Weasleys and the Prewetts, Molly's siblings. He saw the teachers, some Aurors, some of his classmates, and some people he went to Hogwarts with. Dumbledore had entered, he noticed, and was saying something to McGonagall who then walked out the doors and came back a moment later nodding to Dumbledore. The doors opened and he saw his friends begin walking down the aisle, but he had eyes only for Lily. He waited and saw her begin walking down the aisle with Moody and vaguely noted everyone standing up.

She looked beautiful. He smiled at her and she smiled back at him. She got to the front and took his hand after letting go of Moody's arm. They turned to Dumbledore and he heard everyone sitting back down. Dumbledore began the ceremony with a smile on his face.

"We are here today to witness the marriage of Lillian Elizabeth Evans to James Henry Potter. They will now recite their vows, as is tradition. Lily, you may begin."

"I, Lily, ask you, James, to be my husband as my friend and my love. Together we will dream, we will stumble but restore each other, we will share all things. Our miracle lies in the path we have chosen together. In the future, happy occasions will come as surely as the morning and difficult times will come as surely as the night, but we shall weather them together. I enter into this marriage with you knowing that the true magic of love is not to avoid changes, but to navigate them successfully. I humbly give you my hand and my heart as a sanctuary of warmth and peace." She turned to Rose and took the white-goldband and placed it upon his left hand's ring finger. "Just as this circle is without end, my love for you is eternal. Just as it is made of incorruptible substance, my commitment to you will never fail. I choose you as the person with whom I will spend my life. I will stay with you as long as we shall Live, freed and bound by our Love."

James then recited his own vows and waited for Dumbledore to continue.

**-Lily's POV-**

James had just finished his vows and Lily couldn't have felt any happier, except maybe if her parents were there. Dumbledore continued with the ceremony.

"Having said that, I now pronounce you husband and wife in the name of Man, Merlin and Magic; you may now kiss your bride." Lily and James kissed each other gently on the lips for a long moment, enjoying the embrace with an extreme sense of contentment. When they broke the kiss, Dumbledore went on. "I give you Mr. and Mrs. James Potter!" They turned to the crowd, receiving applause. The stepped off the platform and waited for McGonagall to transform the platform to their table. When she did, they didn't even bother with sitting down but began to dance to their song; _Count on Me_ by Jefferson Starship. After their first dance as Mr. and Mrs. James Potter, they went to sit down and await the inevitable speeches. As she suspected, Sirius and Rose were up first. They were giving their speech together, she saw. _This ought to be interesting,_ she thought to herself plastering a smile upon her face.

"We've decided to not embarrass Lily and James too much, as a wedding gift." Sirius began. "We'll just say a few words about their lives that I'm sure they've forgotten about by now. The first time that Lily met James in fourth year, I could tell she was trying to not hex him. He came up and started hitting on her; it was rather funny for the viewers of this spectacle. Anyhow, James was unsuccessful in his attempt; and every other attempt after that for the next two and a half years. He finally managed to ask her out successfully, a good distraction for the prank we would pull on him later that day. So, Lily and James…head boy and girl…began dating. It was no surprise to any of us as we had seen them together and knew it was meant to be from the first. Now, they're married and still as perfect for each other as they were then."

Rose picked up the speech. "We hope you guys are as happy as we are. We know you will be, as long as you remember the important things such as; compromise, good pranks on others, laughter…which incidentally shouldn't be hard as James is quite funny to watch brew a potion… and love. We wish you all the best in the future and hope you get all you want out of life. A child would be good, say with James' hair and Lily's eyes. Can you all imagine? A miniature James, it'd be a sight to see. I can picture it now, Professor McGonagall chasing young Potter down the corridor after pulling off some prank. What a sight that'll be." By the end of their speech, everyone was laughing at the prospect of a young Potter at Hogwarts, all accept for McGonagall who was grimacing at the prospect of another prankster.

There was more dancing, a couple more speeches, many kisses and a lot of laughter. It was, all in all, a great evening. Lily and James exited to many wolf-whistles from Sirius and Remus, Rose and Rina slapping their arms to get them to quiet. They went up to their room and enjoyed their first night as a married couple.

_**April**_

**-Alice's POV-**

Alice was so excited about her wedding day. She woke up smiling with anticipation of the day ahead of her. She couldn't wait to marry Frank. She got up and got dressed in some jeans and a tank-top that said_ 'Sweet and Toxic'_ and had a picture of a skull with a rose over its eye socket. She'd gotten it at a muggle store while shopping with Lily and Rose one day. She went down to get some breakfast with her friends before the ceremony. Since the ceremony didn't begin until mid-afternoon, she had plenty of time to get ready. The Great Hall wasn't even decorated yet, though she was looking forward to seeing it when it was finished. She had had the same idea for decorating the hall as Lily and Rose; it had worked so well for them and there wasn't much you could do with such a large hall without being ostentatious and gaudy. After breakfast they went for a walk around the grounds.

First all the girls, sans Holly who was still with Regulus in the Great Hall, went to the Black Lake and sat under the beech tree on the bank. They talked for a while before going to visit Hagrid at his hut; they hadn't visited with him in ages, they stopped going regularly last year because of NEWTS and spending time with each other. They all felt a little guilty about not visiting more often, but they couldn't undo it. On the way there, Alice could have sworn she saw a group playing quidditch, but thought that there must be a team practice today and that the students would be in their dormitories before the ceremony began. When they go there, he was out back by his garden patch holding his pink umbrella that held his wand. He looked up when he saw them, smiling under the mass of brown hair that was his beard.

"Oh, 's you lot. Hav'n' seen you'n a while, 'ave I? Fang misses jumpin' on Sirius. So, wht're you lot up ta now? Not breakin' more rules I 'ope."

"Oh, just the usual stuff; mayhem, chaos and pandemonium, except now we're wreaking our havoc on the greater wizarding world. Sorry we haven't visited much. We're horrible friends, we are. We're here for Frank and Alice's wedding. You should come up, we didn't see you at James' and Lily's wedding; nor to mine and Sirius'. We've missed you terribly, you know." Rose said, making Hagrid blush a deep shade of burgundy.

"Well, I ha' work to do, ya kno'. I'll see wha' I can do tho', I'm not makin' yer promises tho'."

"Oh, that's wonderful Hagrid. I hope you can make it, it would mean the world to us." Alice said this, with a smile on her face and kindness in her voice.

"Yeah and, whether or not you can come, Sirius and I will come down later to talk to you and play with Fang. So, we'll see you again no matter what, all right?" Rose assured him.

"All righ'."

"Good, then we'll see you later Hagrid." With that last comment from Rina, they departed for the school to check out the Great Hall really quickly before going upstairs. It was decorated with varying shades and textures of blue fabric hung and draped about the hall, the most prominent being her favorite; sapphire blue. There was some white mixed into the drapery as well, though not as much. The tables, adorned with white tablecloths and candles, had centerpieces with calla lilies interspersed with bits of lavender placed in silver vases. It was absolutely magnificent! The girls then went up to their temporary dorm room to begin getting ready as it was now Noon and the wedding began at 3:00. They got up to their temporary common room where Tammy, Alice's cousin, was waiting along with Holly. Tammy was going to be one of the bride's maids for Alice, she was partnering up with Peter for the occasion. They began getting dressed, Alice was first today. Her dress, white silk, fit her perfectly. It had a floor length skirt and the top half was made of a sturdier material, though not so sturdy as to detract from the overall appearance of fragility that her dress held. The top was a strapless bodice with white embroidery on it. It was laced up in the back with white silk ribbon that trailed down a foot or so. She wore flat white shoes with the same embroidery as her bodice on them. Her hair was pulled up into an elegant bun with a few strands of blonde hair hanging around her face gracefully. Her veil was shoulder length and was draped from her bun.

The other women had on their sapphire blue dresses. They had spaghetti straps attached to the blue silk. The front had a square neckline and the back had cloth covered, blue buttons from the waist to the top of the material which went to mid-back. Their hair was all done up the same way, straightened and left down. She liked the simplicity of it.

Once they were ready, they headed for the great hall. Excitement was coursing through Alice's veins as she walked the all-to-familiar corridors with her arm locked in her father's and her friends trailing behind her as she had done for most of them. They got to the entrance hall and waited for the cue to begin the procession of the wedding party. Her friends began walking in. She turned to her father and gave him a radiant smile that showed him just how happy his little girl was, though not so little anymore. They waited for McGonagall to give them their cue and walked in when the doors opened. She immediately looked to the front where Frank was wearing a content smile upon his face as well. She beamed at him and walked down the aisle with her father. When she got to the front, she let go her father and took Frank' hand.

Dumbledore began the ceremony; "We are here today, as we have been many times this year, to witness a marriage. This marriage, between Frankford Melville Longbottom and Alice Karen Smith, shall begin with their recitation of vows. Alice, if you would begin."

Alice said her vows with a calmness that couldn't quite belie her passion. She had complete conviction and unutterable amounts of love in her voice as she proclaimed every one of her vows to Frank, all the while looking in her loves eyes as though they were alone in the world.

**-Frank's POV-**

Frank woke up at 11:00 with a hangover that, while not that bad, was still a hangover. He got up and took some potion to relieve his pounding head of pain. Whence he was done, he took a shower and readied himself for the trip to Hogwarts. He was a bit queasy yet, so declined any late breakfast. All the guys left their flat and apparated to Hogwarts around noon. They had a few hours until they had to even begin getting ready. Sirius suggested a quick game of quidditch to be greeted with enthusiasm by all. They split up into teams of three; James, Remus and Peter and Sirius, Frank and Regulus. They each had a keeper, seeker and a chaser. It wasn't too far from an actual game, just lacking beaters; Frank had thought on that with relief, as he didn't want to end up in the hospital wing on his wedding day, Alice would kill him mercilessly.

The game was indeed a short one. James, Remus and Peter won by 150 points. James had beat Sirius to the snitch by about two seconds. They had been tied at 40 points when the snitch was caught. Sirius had tried to do a Wronski Feint, and done it well, but was unsuccessful because James had already seen the snitch elsewhere and didn't fall for it.

They trudged back up to the castle and took turns at the showers. They got dressed and had another twenty minutes until they had to get down to the Great Hall. They played some muggle poker; Sirius called it Texas Hold 'Em, for the short amount of time they had left. When it was 2:30, they made their way downstairs and Frank left the others for the front of the hall. He saw it was full of people; his mother, some professors, Hagrid, some Aurors, and some classmates from Hogwarts and from Auror Training. He walked up to the front and waited for Dumbledore, who arrived shortly and informed him of the ceremonies beginning in about three minute's time. He was looking forward to this with all his heart; no doubts overcame him at any point.

Their friends came in and shortly after came Alice. She looked stunning. She walked up to him, smiling all the while, and took his hand. Dumbledore began the ceremony, and then Alice said her vows. When she was done, he began his own vows. He said them all with a light heart and a complete sense of rightness in his mind telling him that there was no other woman for him on the planet. When he finished his vows, Dumbledore concluded the ceremony.

"I now pronounce you husband and wife in the name of Man, Merlin and Magic. You may now kiss your bride." Frank and Alice shared a short, gentle kiss. "I present to you Mr. and Mrs. Frank Longbottom!"

They left the platform to a lot of cheering and applause. Once the platform was transfigured, they sat down to have some supper before the dancing began. Once finished eating, they danced for a while; they basked in the glory and radiance of their first dance as a married couple. Then there were some speeches, Remus went first.

"I've known Frank and Alice for Merlin knows how many years. They began dating in fourth year, already knowing that they were right for each other. They didn't dither on and on about silly things like the rest of us, they just knew they were right for each other. They've been happy ever since, a happier couple I don't know that I've seen. They work well together in every possible sense. They complete each other in ways that most don't find in a partner. I would like to wish them a lifetime of happiness and love which, I'm sure will come their way. To Frank and Alice!"

They enjoyed a long evening of talking, singing, eating, dancing and drinking. They were rather tired, but hit a second wind around 11:00 when Sirius began break dancing under the influence of firewhisky. They left their reception that evening content with the world.

_**May**_

**-Rina's POV-**

_It's my wedding day…I'm getting married…I'm so happy…I can't wait;_ Rina thought to herself in a sing-song voice. She had a large, elated grin on her face, and nothing could ruin the euphoric mood she was in. She was putting her light, casual robes. It was May 11th and Rina was to marry Remus today. She couldn't wait; the joy inside her was spilling out unable to be contained. They were all at Hogwarts already, even the guys, because they had all spent the day before there talking with Dumbledore about…_no, not today; it's my wedding, it can wait,_ she told herself. She really didn't want to think about the past evening. She moved on to the business of getting some lunch. She didn't believe in that nonsense about 'the couple not seeing each other before the wedding' so she wasn't worried about meeting Remus downstairs for some food. She walked down with her friends, all nearly as excited as herself for the fourth wedding in the past five months.

They got to the Great Hall to be greeted by the guys. She looked around for Remus, but didn't see him.

"Where's…" she began to ask about Remus' whereabouts, but was cut off by James.

"He knew you wouldn't follow the tradition about waiting for the ceremony to see each other, so he stayed in the room and had some food brought up from the kitchens. You see, he was raised as a muggle of sorts so he was brought up to believe in that tradition. I know where you're coming from though, I thought it ridiculous as well but I wasn't going to argue with Lily about something so important to her."

"Yeah, same with Rose," Sirius continued. "I wouldn't have had the foggiest notion about doing that if she hadn't insisted upon it. I still don't really get it." He said the last with a pensive expression on his face.

"He does, however, wish to let you know that he is looking forward to this afternoon with great fervor and cannot wait to see you. He barely kept himself from leaving to see you this morning." Frank concluded.

"Thanks," Rina said with a slight frown. _Oh well, _she thought to herself, _I won't let it get me down. I'll get to spend the rest of my life with him, after all._ She smiled again at that thought and went to eat with her friends. Half-way through their meal, the professors came in and began decorating the hall. They hung cloth of different shades of yellow; amber, gold, corn-silk and goldenrod. The hall looked wonderful, everything was done up perfectly. They were then kicked out so the tables could be changed around, but she managed to see the crème colored tablecloths and the centerpieces made of white and yellow roses before leaving.

The entire group walked about for a bit before the guys left to keep Remus company per request of the bride-to-be. The girls all walked about the grounds for about a half hour before having to go and get ready. They walked back up to their temporary common room and waited for Marsha Johansen, one of Rina and Remus' fellow obliviator trainees whom Rina had become good friends with in the past months. She was going to be Peter's partner for the procession in the ceremony. She got their shortly and the girls began dressing.

The maids-of-honor wore silk dresses. They were floor-length and strapless. The dresses were amber and the top half had pale yellow embroidery along the edging of the top. There was a slit on the left that went up to their knees. In the back, there was a faux lace-up of amber ribbon that trailed down about 18". Their hair was put up into buns with a single strand of straight hair hanging down on the left side framing their faces. Each woman also had a small yellow rose placed in their hair behind their right ear. They looked wonderful.

Rina had on a strapless, white dress. The top half, hade of satin, was embroidered with off-white roses on vines. The bottom half, silk, went to the floor and trailed behind her about a foot or so. Her dark red hair was curled ever so loosely and left down dangling at her shoulder blades. She wore a veil that went to her lower back and was attached by magic. It was a plain veil; it had three layers the top-most layer was embroidered along the edges with the same off-white roses on vines. She also adorned the pearls that her recently deceased grandmother had given to her. The earrings, necklace, and bracelet matched her gown beautifully.

Rina heard a knock on the portrait and saw her father waiting.

"It's time, dear. You look lovely." He said upon entering the room.

"Thank you daddy. Let's go, I'm ready now."

They walked down to the entrance hall and the ceremony began. The couples all walked in and Rina awaited her turn. When McGonagall opened the doors she began to cry tears of joy. She walked up the aisle with her father. She saw her brothers; Matthew, Christopher, Michael, Thomas and Joseph. She was the youngest, which made it hard for her; being a girl didn't help either. They had all started teasing her when she began dating Remus, but she had withstood it with ease; after so many years of her brothers she had gotten used to being teased. When they met him, they liked him at once and approved of him for their baby sister. Then they found out he was a werewolf and almost had fits. They'd gotten over it though, after much screaming and yelling and prodding on her part, and had welcomed him back into their good graces. Her brothers were all chummy with Remus now, she suspected it was because they didn't want her screaming again but she didn't care why they were nice so long as they were.

She stopped peering at her brothers and took the next step up the aisle with her father. Her parents had been fairly receptive to her telling them of Remus being a werewolf, not saying anything crude or impolite. They just asked if she was still happy and said that that was all that mattered to them. She looked at her father again and smiled. Her mother was sitting up front, she saw, smiling at her with tears of joy in her eyes as well.

She looked to the front with her next step and spotted Remus for the first time that day. He was standing on the platform with Dumbledore. Both were smiling, but now she saw him she only had eyes for Remus, her Remus. She smiled at him through her tears and he smiled back.

Rina and her father finally made it to the front after what seemed an eternity. Rina took Remus' hand at once, letting go of her father. When she looked into Remus' eyes, she felt pure, unadulterated joy.

**-Remus' POV-**

Remus woke up and went down to their temporary common room. He didn't even bother getting dressed as he was planning on spending the morning in the common room. He called down to the kitchens for some breakfast and was brought some eggs, toast, pancakes, bacon, sausage, French toast, cereal, porridge, orange juice, coffee and pumpkin juice. In short, it was enough to feed an army; or at least Sirius and James. _Speak of the devils;_ he thought his friends walked down.

Sirius immediately walked over and grabbed some toast, as did James.

"Morning Remus," Sirius greeted in-between bites of toast and gulps of pumpkin juice.

"Morning guys," he greeted back, grabbing his orange juice just as James was about to snag it from the tray. "You can have the coffee," he said at the look on James' face, pointing to the coffee cup also on the tray. "Besides, aren't you guys going down for lunch now?"

"Yeah, but we can't eat on an empty stomach; can we?" James inquired, as though it were obvious. "Can I have your sausage?"

"Go ahead. Hey, tell Rina that I'm looking forward to later and that I can't wait to see her; would you. I'm not going down because I know she'll be there and we can't see each other before the ceremony."

"Why? I still don't get that stupid tradition. What's its purpose, anyway?" Regulus inquired.

"Well, old muggle tradition states that if you see the bride before the wedding you'll have bad luck in your marriage. It goes back centuries; it's believed to be true. It's one of the more prominent muggle superstitions. I was raised muggle, so I'm going to follow it; no matter how silly. Anyway, tell Rina I'll see her later."

"You know what I've concluded about the word 'anyway'? That it's a way of telling people to fuck off." Sirius said this with a hint of amusement in his voice.

"What? What'd you smoke this morning and why didn't you share?" James asked, sounding disbelieving.

"Well, think about it. When you're talking to someone and you get bored with the conversation and are looking for a way out of it, what do you say? You say, as does everyone else looking for an escape route from a bad topic, 'Anyway'." Sirius was now speaking with great fervor and amusement. "And not just in a regular tone of voice, either. It's said with a stressing on the first half, like so… '_Any_way'. Then, if someone's really annoyed, they throw a glance over their shoulder as if looking for a physical way to escape. I find it highly amusing. You might as well say, 'you're annoying, fuck off'."

"You're so weird, Padfoot." James said.

"But seriously, wasn't Moony getting annoyed with us just now? And didn't he sound like he wanted us to go? I know I'm not imagining this. Besides, it's not as if I'm offended, I just find it amusing. Ask the ladies later, I'm sure they'll agree."

"Anyway," Regulus said, joining in the soon to be over conversation just to piss them all off with his last statement. "Let's go eat. We'll send Rina your regards, don't fret. We'll be back up later." On the way out of the portrait hole, Remus overheard the discussion continuing. "I agree with my dear brother, saying 'anyway' in that tone is another way of telling someone to fuck off. It makes perfect sense. I mean…"

When they were gone, Remus finished his breakfast in peace then began to play solitaire, a game his mother had taught him as a child. The guys came back about an hour later, continuing their earlier discussion. It seemed that Frank had sided with Sirius and Regulus while Peter was still neutral, it also seemed as though James was about to be swayed when Remus decided to interrupt their argument.

"So, how was brunch?"

"Oh, it was alright. Rina seemed disappointed you weren't their but she got on well enough." James answered, apparently grateful for a change of subject.

"All right then, we have about two hours until we have to go down to the entrance hall. I vote we play some exploding snap to pass time until we have to get dressed and go." Frank suggested.

"You lot go ahead, I'll watch and see who loses their eyebrows first." Remus declined to play, knowing that it was likely he'd lose some hair if he were to play as he was horrible at the game. The guys proceeded to play several short games of exploding snap, Sirius and Regulus winning them all. They all went up and got ready and went down to the entrance hall twenty minutes before the ceremony was to begin, Remus taking his place at the head of the hall at once.

He waited, and after five minutes or so Dumbledore came in. He said that they would be starting early as everyone was ready. The doors opened and his friends began walking in. The doors closed again temporarily, and when they opened he saw Rina. He was enthralled by the sight of her. She walked up to him, smiling all the while. He returned her smile with ease. She walked up to him, ascended the couple of stairs of the platform and took his right hand. He saw she was crying, tears of joy he hoped, and wiped them away gently with his left thumb.

Dumbledore said the beginning of the ceremony, with a new twist this time. "By now, we should all know why we're here. Remus John Lupin and Sandrine Violette Stone will be reciting their vows post-haste; as I'm sure you're all looking forward to cake. Sandrine, if you would proceed."

Rina recited her vows flawlessly and with a great amount of love in her voice. Remus then recited his vows, also lovingly and without error. Dumbledore concluded the ceremony after that.

"In the name of Man, Merlin and Magic, I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss your bride." Remus didn't wait for him to finish his sentence before kissing his new wife passionately. "I give you, Mr. and Mrs. Remus Lupin! Enjoy your cake everyone!"

They stepped down and the platform was transfigured. Remus and Rina attempted to sit down but were stopped by their friends who insisted they dance to their song first. They danced to the song, _Heaven Knows_ by The Grass Roots. When they sat down the speeches began at once, James and Sirius stood up at once. They didn't look surprised that it had happened so Remus assumed they were giving a joint speech.

"We all have good things to say about this couple…" James began.

"But there's not enough time in the day for all their good deeds and their happy story…" Sirius continued, starting the trade off of lines.

"So we'll select certain aspects of their young adulthood to embarrass them with…"

"It all began on a bright, shiny, red train called the Hogwarts Express one fine September day some six or seven years ago. Little Remus and Little Rina were walking into the station, both ridiculously early…"

"…When they ran into each other. Facts are scarce, but from what we've heard Little Remus had just gone through the barrier and had paused to look at the train; a mistake we've all made once or twice. Not two seconds later Little Rina came barreling through the barrier full-boar and sent Little Remus flying…"

"She immediately went to help the poor fellow up, offer him a hand. They got to talking, and spent all their time before their other friends got there talking about how irresponsible we all were and how we'd probably miss the train…"

"They maintained their friendship; though not the best of friends, they didn't shun each other either. When the train ride to seventh year came round, Little Remus had worked up the courage to ask Little Rina to go out with him…"

"Little Rina, of course, said yes…"

"And, as you all know, they lived happily ever after; or so we hope."

"To Remus and Rina!" they shouted simultaneously, raising applause, cheering and agreement form the crowd.

The rest of the evening was spent in joyful frivolity. There was dancing and music, food and drink, talk and fun. Remus and Rina enjoyed themselves to the fullest that evening, enthralled by each others presence. They left their reception looking forward to their first night as a married couple; having thoroughly enjoyed their first afternoon and evening they couldn't help but look forward to many more firsts as a married couple.

_**June**_

**-Regulus' POV-**

It was June, and Regulus was going to be graduating Hogwarts that afternoon. His brother, girlfriend and friends had all come to the school that morning to partake in some graduation day festivities. He would be leaving with them that evening. But that evening wasn't what he was looking forward to, it was the afternoon that interested him. The ceremony had ended a short while ago, not as long as last years because of a lack of interruptions from Sirius. They were done eating as well, but it was only 2:00 in the afternoon. Regulus couldn't wait another moment.

He tapped Holly on the shoulder and took her hand when she turned to him. He led her away from the group and over to a deserted table. They sat down next to each other and he gazed into her eyes. He thought that she already knew what was happening by the look in her eye, but he didn't want there to be any doubt so he knelt down in front of her and pulled a box containing a silver ring with a diamond atop it out of his pocket. He opened the box and held her gaze; she smiled and nodded her head then hugged him tightly. They remained embraced for a while, until Holly pulled back and smiled at him again and kissed his forehead.

He put the ring on her finger, smiling broadly, and they walked back over to the table where their friends sat waiting for them. Holly held up her hand and they all congratulated the newly engaged couple. Holly got a group hug from all the girls while Regulus was almost knocked over by the force of the guys patting him on the back and shoving him good-naturedly. They all sat down once more, now a current of joy and excitement running through their group. They had some more to drink then went up to the castle to retrieve Regulus' belongings from the Head Common Room where he'd left them.

He took one last look about his room from the previous year and walked out hand-in-hand with Holly, Sirius was hovering Regulus' trunk in front of them. They got to Hogsmeade and apparated to their flat, Regulus anxious to get settled in again. They had a busy week ahead; Sirius, Rose, James, Lily, Frank, Alice and Peter were graduating from Auror training on Monday, Rina and Remus were graduating from Obliviator Training on Wednesday, and Holly had her graduation from Healer Training on Thursday. They all went to bed fairly soon as they were going to visit the Potters tomorrow at their manor.

They had a busy week ahead, that was for sure, but they enjoyed a short stint of conversation before finally turning in. Regulus was looking forward to his new life, he wouldn't begin his own training until September and he planned on enjoying his last summer without a job.

**_A/N: Alright, hope you enjoyed the chapter. The lyrics for _Some Kind of Wonderful_ by Grand Funk Railroad are from the version off of the _Sounds of the Seventies: 1975_ album. They lyrics for _You're the One_ by The Vogues are from the version off of their _Greatest Hits_ album. I got the wedding vows off of a web-site, i just compiled a mixture of my favorite vows to get the ones in there. I do not own these songs or vows any more than I own Harry Potter, so not at all. Also, I'll not be doing detailed sex scenes, so use your own imagination if you want to picture those. Lots of weddings, I know, but again…it had to be done. It was a small sacrifice for the greater good of the plot, in my opinion. I think it was still passable though. I realized that I made a mistake in an earlier chapter; I put the song _Hungry Like The Wolf_ by Duran Duran in chapter five, but it wasn't written until 1983 and the chapter took place in 1978, I must have read the date wrong, so we'll just pretend that for that chapter it was written in the mid-seventies. Sorry for all the fluff, it was necessary for weddings though. Next chapter shouldn't have as much, but no promises as of yet. The next chapter will be up a lot more quickly…I hope. My sister and dad are going to Sturgis for a week, so it's just my mom and I. I've babbled on enough now. Reviews and suggestions are welcome as always._**


	9. Disney, Moving & The Fidelius

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or anything to do with him, just this particular plotline.

**_A/N: Alright, this one has probably the most detailed scene I have written or will ever write again as I got bored with it. There are two _different _versions of the song _Our House._ One is by Madness, the other by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Both fit, but for different reasons. Enjoy!_**

**Chapter 8: Disney, Moving & The Fidelius**

_Song: Our House_

_By: Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young _**OR**_ Madness_

**-Regulus' POV-**

The past week had passed rather quickly for the group, as was to be expected when they were so busy. They had been to three graduation ceremonies, all of them dull beyond belief but exciting at the same time as it meant that his friends were now fully trained wizards in their field of choice. They had all been given a week off before starting work; a small graduation present from the Ministry and St. Mungo's to all of their recent graduates.

The group would be spending the week enjoying themselves to the fullest. They were planning on going to muggle amusement parks, lots of shopping, apparating to exotic places and so on. Regulus woke up on Saturday, their first day of organized chaos.

That day, they were apparating to Florida, U.S.A. Lily and Rose had told them about a muggle theme park there that sounded like loads of fun, so they were going to cause mayhem internationally for the day.

It was about 9:00 a.m. that Regulus awoke; they were leaving for Disney World at about 11:00 as they were all night owls and would spend the majority of their time there during the evening.

Regulus got up and took a shower, getting dressed in his favorite muggle outfit; trying to not look to blatantly like a tourist; some khaki shorts, a white muscle shirt, and a white dress shirt that was striped with emerald green. He finished the look off by putting a hat on over his medium length black hair and a pair of 'hangover' sunglasses on to protect his misty gray eyes.

Holly had woken up about five minutes ago and was getting dressed as well. She was beautiful in the morning, he concluded after watching her pull back her hair and put on the small amount of make-up _she_ thought she needed. He went up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, kissing the top of her head. She turned and smiled up at him, leaning up for a more suitable good morning.

Once ready, they both walked downstairs, everyone else nearly ready to go. He and Holly grabbed a quick piece of toast and went to the entrance area to slip on their trainers. Once they were ready, they left for Disney World a whole hour and a half early.

They apparated behind some trees near the entrance to the Magic Kingdom. They made their way up to the ticket booth and purchased enough tickets for all eleven of them. They went in and looked about; they all wanted to go on some rides.

They found their way to the ride called 'It's A Small World' and waited in line a while before getting on. It was like nothing any of them had ever experienced. They got off laughing and singing the catchy tune.

_There is just one moon and one golden sun;_

_And a smile means friendship for everyone._

_Though the mountains are wide;_

_And the oceans divide,_

_It's a small world after all!_

They couldn't stop singing it, over and over again. They went on several other rides, but resolved to go back later. They were enjoying their time at the park immensely.

**-Sirius' POV-**

"I'm sorry sir, but there is no alcohol served in the Magic Kingdom," a park attendant answered Sirius' query.

"You have GOT to be kidding me, right?" Sirius asked with a last bit of hope in his voice.

"No, sir, I'm not. There is, however, alcohol at Epcot. They have many different types of beer, ale and so on from multiple countries. I hear that the English booth makes exceptional ale."

"Can you not hear my accent? I'm British, if I wanted English ale I would have stayed home and gotten pissed there!"

"I'm very sorry sir, but if it's alcohol you're looking for…I'd suggest Epcot, perhaps you could try the German booth's lager."

"Thanks," Sirius said, turning around and mumbling the second half of his statement, "for nothing." Sirius and the others walked away. "There goes part one of our evening plans. I guess getting drunk and riding 'It's A Small World' several times is no longer a viable option. Oh well, on to part two; dinner in New York. James and I have received word of a hotel containing a restaurant with considerably spicy hot wings. If my information is correct, they also serve beer so all is well. That is where we had planned on dinner this evening." That said, they all received the address from James and apparated to their dinner destination.

They went in and ordered their food; James, Sirius and Regulus all ordering the 'nuclear' hot wings. Their waitress said that if two of them cleared their plates unassisted, she would comp. their meal; it was a challenge given to the three and accepted wholeheartedly. The three began eating their wings; after the first bite, Sirius looked up at Regulus and James and smiled, these were rather weak. He went to take his next bite and swallowed. It was then that the heat of the sauce caught up with Sirius. He again looked to James and Regulus to see their looks of shock as well at the complete spiciness of this food. It was a phenomenon! He continued eating; he made his way through four and thought to himself, _only eight left_. He got through six, half done, when he couldn't take any more.

His mouth was on fire! His eyes were streaming unwarrantedly, his mouth was a blazing inferno of heat that he couldn't describe to someone not having eaten this, and could you even call it food? He looked up to see James and Regulus still going at it, having each eaten seven, and decided to take one for the team and keep going.

After the ninth one, it was all downhill. His mouth had gone completely numb and he had given up hope of ever tasting anything again. He finished his plate with a defiant manner and wiped his mouth with his napkin. James was looking at the last wing on his plate as if it was Voldemort himself; something evil to be conquered and then forgotten. Regulus was giving his plate a look of utter defeat; he had three left as he had slowed down considerably.

"What, you gonna give up now and have Sirius be the only one to finish? That's not like you James, giving up a challenge so-" but Remus was cut off of his taunting with a glare that, if looks could kill, Remus would now be six feet under. James looked back at the plate, then threw Remus a defiant glare and picked up his last wing. He finished it with a gasp and immediately waved the waitress over, his eyes resuming their streaming. Regulus had managed to force down two more and was contemplating his plate with the look of a man who would finish it or die trying. He picked up his last wing and ate it, his eyes brimming with unwanted tears. He finished it and immediately picked up his beer, which he began gulping and gulping, trying to cool down his mouth.

The waitress was in time to see Regulus finish and, as promised, gave them their meal free of charge. She also brought out three pitchers of milk to help them cool off their mouths.

About five minutes after finishing his plate, Sirius began feeling nauseous and headed for the bathroom closely followed by Regulus and James. Upon arriving at the bathroom, he promptly vomited, being mimicked in other stalls by his friend and his brother. When they finished, the others decided it would be best to let them rest for the evening and so the three were side-along apparated home by their wives and girlfriend, who were having a thorough chuckling session about how they looked while finishing up their food.

Sirius and Rose went to bed; Sirius conjured a bucket up next to his side of the bed just in case. It had been two hours since eating his last wing, and still he couldn't feel his mouth.

**-James' POV-**

It was two days after the hot-wing incident, as it had come to be known, had occurred. James still couldn't feel his lips or taste anything properly and after a quick council with Sirius and Regulus, he found them to be in the same predicament. Yesterday had been spent watching movies on their television at home, ordering out for pizza at supper time.

Today though, they were going to go to visit James' parents. They left at about 10:30, wanting to have time for a quick game of quidditch before their late lunch. They got to the Potters' Manor and went in to chat with his parents for a bit before going out back for a quidditch game on their pitch.

Due to a lack of space in their backyard, the Potter's had made the ground of the pitch into a swimming pool, so the game was played over a pool instead of the traditional grass. They began the games, playing a few players short of course. Sirius and James were the captains, each choosing their teammates. Sirius chose; Rose, Regulus, Holly and Frank. That left James, gladly, with; Lily, Remus, Rina and Alice. Peter was going to make sure no-one cheated, being their referee. They were playing without beaters, as nobody wanted to get bloodied up. Sirius and James were the seekers; Rose, Regulus and Holly and Lily, Remus and Rina were acting as chasers; and Frank and Alice were the keepers.

They had asked Henry and Harriet to join them, but they had declined saying they preferred to just watch. The match began with Lily almost scoring on Frank, who narrowly stopped the quaffle from going through the left hoop. Rose gained the quaffle and flew low, almost skimming the water, and then shot up towards the hoops that Alice was guarding. Rose managed to get it in on the right hoop, having caught Alice off guard with her assault from below. Rina snatched the quaffle and went up the field, passing it between Remus, herself and Lily all the way down. They kept fake passing it and passing it for real to confuse Frank When they got to the hoops, Frank was looking expectantly upon Lily when Rina scored from the other direction.

James saw something golden fly past his head and immediately took off after the snitch. Sirius saw him and began flying towards it as well. They were neck-in-neck for a good thirty feet or so until James sped up and stretched his arm further than he knew it could go and snatched the snitch. He held his arm up in triumph and was cheered on by his friends, the other team included. They all landed on the edge of the pool and were talking about the match when James felt a shove on his shoulder and he fell. His first thought was, _I'm wet_. He looked up and saw Sirius laughing his arse off. He went under the water, gathering into himself momentarily, and then propelled himself to the surface of the water near the edge of the pool where Sirius still stood laughing. James grabbed Sirius' robes and pulled him in with him, dunking him under the water.

When he finally let him up, Sirius swam to the surface spluttering. Everyone was laughing at them, still near the edge of the pool. Sirius gave James a look that said 'I know what I want to do; you want to join me on three?' James nodded and they swam to the edge. Lily, catching on to their plan, grabbed Rose's arm and pulled her away from the edge of the pool foolishly thinking they'd be safe. James and Sirius started pushing their unsuspecting friends into the pool, and then set their sights upon their wives who were trying to run.

They were easily captured and tossed in with the others. Sirius and James jumped in after them, making as big a splash as they could in the process. They began a game of chicken; again Peter was the referee, with each couple as a pair.

James and Lily went after Sirius and Rose first, but were taken out from behind by Remus and Rina. Frank and Alice had been taken out by Regulus and Holly. Remus and Rina engaged in a battle with Sirius and Rose, but were knocked over by Rose when they got distracted by Regulus making loud noises. It was down to Regulus and Holly vs. Sirius and Rose. They squared off, Holly and Rose locked arms while their partners tried desperately to keep their balance. In the end, Sirius had slipped slightly giving Holly the chance to push him and Rose over. James observed all of this with great interest, laughing intensely when Rose fell on top of Sirius.

They all got out of the pool and dried off before their late lunch, which had turned into a picnic of sorts. Harriet had made roast beef, mashed potatoes and much more, including treacle tart. They all ate until they were about to burst. They shared an after-meal firewhisky with Henry, who pulled James and Lily aside for a moment.

"What's wrong dad? Are you and mum all right?" James asked, sounding concerned. Harriet walked in a moment later carrying some fresh drinks.

"No, no James; everything is just fine. We just wanted to talk to you about something rather important." Henry replied

"All right; what is it?" Lily asked, sounding truly intrigued.

"Well, James, your mother and I have made a decision. As you know, we have a considerable amount of money; money that you'll inherit someday and already have full access to. We'd like to give you a late wedding present, as it's only just been finished. We've had a house built for you, in a town called Godric's Hollow. There's a new type of contractor who, after being told about the people who will live in the house, can custom build a house to their desires. We told him a little about how you met and about your friends and life at school, and he came up with a very wonderful sketch that we gave him clearance to build. That was in March, and now it's ready for you. You'll have to furnish it, of course, but the rest is taken care of."

"Wow dad, thanks. I can't believe you guys bought us a house, much less a house custom built to our liking. When can we go see it?"

"As soon as you'd like to go we can. We thought tonight would be a perfect opportunity. We can apparate there with the others and then look around." Harriet contributed.

"Well then, let's tell the others and get going." Lily said, thoroughly excited at the prospect of seeing their new house.

They went and fetched the others, then apparated to Godric's Hollow to look about.

**-Lily's POV-**

They apparated to Godric's Hollow immediately. Lily looked around for a moment, not seeing any house, before realizing that it must be under protective charms. Once Henry and Harriet got there though, the house, better called a mansion, appeared. It was huge! There were six stories above ground and Merlin knew how many underground. It was made of brick, better than wood to withstand the English weather. At the very front of the house, there was a porch that wrapped around what looked to be the entire house. It came out from the house about ten feet at the front, and fifteen on either side. There were pillars holding up the overhang that was above the porch.

They all walked up to the gates, which had 'Potter Residence' lettered on an arch above the gates in gold, and waited for Henry to open them with a flick of his wand. Everyone walked up to the house; letting Henry and Harriet go first, followed by Lily and James, and then by the other's at a close distance. They got to the front door, which opened for Henry immediately, and walked into the entrance way; better termed a hall for its size.

The entrance hall was beautiful. It had had an old rug put down to wipe shoes on, a temporary arrangement to be sure. The ceiling must have been 15 feet high! Lily was astounded by this revelation. As promised, the house was completely unfurnished. Henry and Harriet did, however, give them a walking tour of their new home. They started in the bottom basement; there were two total, which was meant to be a potions chamber. The fact that it was underground was merely a safety benefit in case of an attack. It was bare except for a couple of book shelves built into the walls and some sconces on the walls for torches.

The next basement, a floor up, was a game room. It was absolutely magnificent! Lily saw James giving the room appraising looks, then glancing at Sirius and then at Lily herself. They finished with that room rather quickly as it was really just a huge room.

They were now back at the first floor, but decided to go up to the sixth and top floor and work their way down. The sixth floor was grand. It had a master bedroom that Lily and James explored alone for a few moments. In their new bedroom, they had a huge walk-in closet that was almost as big as their bedroom at the flat. It also had a private bathroom attached to it. The bathroom had a shower, a huge bathtub and his and her sinks set in a white marble countertop.

They left their new room reluctantly to move on to the next room of the floor. They discovered the rest of the floor to be other bedrooms. There were four bedrooms besides Lily and James', each with sizable closets and bathrooms. Harriet had said that they 'wanted to be sure there were plenty of bedrooms, just in case'. Just in case of what, Lily was positive she knew; this was Harriet's way of hinting for grand-children and James knew it as well. When Harriet told them, they grinned at each other before blushing furiously.

They next went to the fifth floor to find it like an apartment. It had a master bedroom, though smaller than Lily's and James'. There was also a small kitchen, big enough to sit in and enjoy a private cup of coffee. There were two bathrooms and three bedrooms on this floor as well as a sitting room.

After that floor, Harriet told them that floors two through five were identical in build, so they went back down to the first floor.

The first floor contained many things. It had the sizable kitchen; apparently Harriet had told the contractor of Lily's love of cooking. There was also a dining area that was big enough for an entire dinner party. They had had an office put in for James and a separate one for Lily; they had a door connecting them however. James' office was the exact mirror of Lily's. Floor to ceiling windows looking out over their back yard on one wall with a door built into the glass framework, bookshelves on another and places for portraits on the third wall; the fourth containing a set of large, French, double-doors made of glass and mahogany to go between offices. Upon inspection by Lily, the porch from the front did in fact wrap-around the entire house turning into a large deck at the back where it could be gotten out onto by their doors in the windows. She and James, followed by the others walked out back to inspect their yard. It was absolutely wonderful. It had been landscaped beautifully. On one side, there was a garden that contained roses and lilies. On the other side there was a giant pool with a diving board and a patio along one side. Straight down the middle though, was a quidditch pitch. When Sirius and James saw this, they whooped for joy. They had to be dragged back into the house to finish looking about.

Lily had noticed though, while outside, that there were small terraces attached to every bedroom with an outer wall; hers and James' included. They went back in and were showed to the living room, which was as large as the Gryffindor common room, and the sitting room, which had large fireplace in it. The fireplace was about eight feet tall, meant to floo through with comfort.

Harriet showed Lily the next room, telling her beforehand that this was a furnished room and a special gift to her for being so wonderful, which made Lily blush furiously. Upon entering the room, Lily saw a library. It had bookshelves on every wall except for one, that one containing the same floor to ceiling windows and a door. There were books lining every shelf in there with small gaps in-between for additions to the collection. Wonderful, glorious books! Lily was so excited, she nearly ran into one of the bookshelves. There were more bookshelves standing in rows near the walls, just like you'd find in a real library. These were also books lining these, again with room for added books. There were a couple of medium sized tables near the edge of the bookshelves, obviously for working at, with chairs placed around them. There was also room, Lily saw, for a couch and some chairs around the hearth in the center of the room.

"How do you like it dear?" asked Harriet.

"I love it!" squealed Lily, running over and giving her in-laws huge hugs and thanking them profusely. "Thank you so much, how could we ever thank you enough for what you've done and now this! It's just so wonderful!"

"Oh, it was well worth it. Besides, you two deserve it. You work so hard and do so well. Now, we did have the books installed in a system. They are put in categories; I think there are signs up over each section. We had it organized to be like the Hogwarts library, Madam Pince came over herself to oversee the organization of the books. She was nearly as thrilled as you at the library. We're so glad you like it, we were thrilled to reward you for your hard work and give you something nice for your wedding." Henry added, looking about the room. "I think we ought to have a meeting, just the four of us, in James' office. We have some papers you need to sign and some charms to enact."

"We can do that tomorrow, after we've got some furniture, if you don't mind." James said.

"Of course not, we'll have to meet back here tomorrow though. What do you say to 10:00?" James and Lily nodded their heads. "All right then. You'll have to wait outside for us though because the wards won't recognize you until you sign the papers. I can only get in until you sign the papers, after that you give clearance to anyone you want otherwise they'll have a hell of a time getting in, probably take Voldemort himself to break through these wards. Well then, we'll see you tomorrow." With that, the elder Potter's led the way out of the house.

"James, why don't we go to that furniture place in Diagon Alley tomorrow morning before we come here? We can pick up some furniture; just for our offices for now."

"Sounds good, darling; we can do that at, what, 9:00?"

"Sure. We can shrink it and bring it with us."

The entire group apparated home and spent the evening talking about the new house. Lily noticed, however, that Sirius was kind of distant during their talk and decided to confront him.

"Sirius, a word in the kitchen please," Sirius got up and followed her. "Look, I can tell something's up and I want to know why you're being so distant."

"It's nothing; just tired after the day."

"Oh, I'm so sure. That's why you're suddenly so cross and un-talkative? James hasn't caught on yet, but he will and then you'll have him upset as well. Just tell me and maybe I can help!"

"Oh bugger it all! I don't want you guys to move out! I'll miss you! James' been my best mate since first year and we started being best mates when you started dating James and now you got a new house and you're going to be gone!"

A look of dawning comprehension came across Lily's face. She should have realized earlier that this could be a problem.

"Sirius," she said in a soft voice. "We would never leave you behind. Like you said, we're best mates. James and I would never abandon you, alright? Besides, did you _see_ how huge that house is! There's plenty of space for you and all the other's to visit whenever you want. And, I'm not making promises, but since I've got some pull with the head of the house there's a good chance you'll be visiting a lot." Lily said this last with sarcasm and a huge grin on her face as she thought to herself, _I _am_ half of the household and I'm sure James won't mind them coming to live with us at all._ "Besides, you can't expect me to do all the cooking, can you? I mean, trying to feed James is like trying to feed the entire British Navy!" Lily smiled at Sirius, who returned her smile. Lily walked over, ruffled his hair, and gave him a quick pat on the back. "Don't worry mate, I'm sure there'll be many a quidditch game played on that field in the time to come. And I'll whoop you're ass every single time, too." With that, they walked back into the living room; James gave Lily a curious glance, but she just smiled at him and sat back down.

**-Lily's POV cont.-**

They woke up the next morning and flooed to Diagon Alley. They walked into the furniture store and began looking around. When they got to the office portion of the store, Lily perked up because she finally got to purchase something; she'd been making a list of everything she wanted for their house so far but had refrained from ordering anything until later on.

They each picked out a desk. Lily's was a pale pine wood desk. It was built solidly and was the perfect size for the room. It had several drawers and a smooth surface. James' was a dark oak. It was almost identical to Lily's, except his had a glass case in the front so that he could display objects there. They each got a chair as well, then four more; two for each office; for guests to use. James picked out a very comfortable couch that looked very nice. The frame was the same dark wood as his desk with burgundy velvet upholstery. Lily chose a chaise lounge for her office; it was covered in emerald green velvet and had some pale green pillows. The legs were of the same pale pine wood as her desk. They each got a couple of lamps and each also chose a chandelier to hang up. They were almost done, when Lily noticed the little knick-knacks for ones desk. They spent a few more minutes finding calendars, pen and pencil holders, pens and pencils, garbage bins, paper trays and the like. They went over to look at rugs next. Lily got a plush green area rug to match her chaise lounge, while James' rug was red to match his couch.

They finally finished, and just in time to gather their new belongings and apparate to Godric's Hollow.

**-James' POV-**

They had just apparated to Godric's Hollow, where his parents were waiting for them by the front door. James and Lily walked up to the house and entered with the couple, heading for James and Lily's studies. They set up Lily's office first; enlarging everything and placing it where she requested it go. When they were done, they went to set up James' office. When they were done, they all took a seat and started on the business at hand. When they finished signing the papers, Henry began to explain extra features of the house to the new owners.

"Alright, we had this house built for you as you know. We told the contractor about how you are close to your friends, if you hadn't noticed that's why there're so many rooms. He made enough for each couple to have a floor to themselves, all but Peter because he has his own flat. We didn't want to tell you that we had it built that way on purpose just in case you didn't want the others moving in with you."

Lily looked at James and spoke up. "I think that we should invite them all to live here. Even Peter, he can take one of the extra rooms."

"Really," James asked. "You mean that? I wasn't sure you'd want everyone living with us."

"I've gotten used to it. I think that if we were to try living on our own, we'd be terribly bored in all this space. Besides, there is more than enough room for everyone."

"It's settled then. We'll invite them to live here. So, dad anything else we need to know?"

"Yes. We also told him about your mischief making and how you all love adventure. He decided to put in sever al secret passages for you all to use. I'm not sure where they all are, but he's made a sore of sketch of the house for you to use to find them all if you want. It's a still drawing, and it's fairly easy to read. Ah, here it is." Harriet handed them the map of their new house. James looked over it and noticed some new things.

He saw that there was a broom shed out by the pitch and a changing room somewhere by the pool, he just couldn't tell where. It was confusing him, so he asked his father.

"Oh, that. That's one of the passageways. It starts in the first basement and there's a short walk to the changing rooms. From there, you walk some more and when you get to the fork in the tunnel, you take a right and when at the end of the tunnel you open up a door that comes out right next to the patio. There's one leading to the broom shed from that room as well. In fact, I believe it's the same tunnel you just keep going straight instead of take the right and it'll take you to the broom shed."

"Wow. I can't wait to show the guys!"

"Yes, well, that's not it quite yet. We also got you a house elf. Now, before you say anything, we thought you could use the help as you have to work almost all the time. He's a unique elf, wouldn't make the contract with anyone but you. He agreed to be here in," Henry paused to look at his watch, "two minutes. His name is Dabble and he has been set free by his previous master. He wouldn't say why, though we can ask him once he gets here I supp-" Henry was cut off by the popping noise that signaled the arrival of Dabble.

"Hello sirs and misses. Dabble was asked to meet here for an interview for employment. Dabble would like to thank sirs and misses for listening to him."

"Hello Dabble. I have a few questions." James started. "Why were you freed from your last master?"

"Sir, Dabble was freed because Master Malfoy's daughter threw a sock at me when she was upset. Dabble cannot say anything more on the matter, though sir."

"Malfoy reproduced? Who did he marry?" Lily inquired.

"Master Malfoy married Miss Narcissa Black, miss. Their Miss Cedrella was born a few months ago. But miss, Dabble is not supposed to speak of my old families miss. Dabble would be happy to work for sir and miss, but they must know that he cannot speak ill of his old Masters."

"Alright, Dabble, we'll stop asking you about them." Lily said with a smile.

"Thank you miss. Would you like Dabble to work here? Dabble likes this house and you are very kind, sirs and miss."

"Well, James, what do you think? It would be helpful having him about I suppose, especially with eleven of us living here. Oh, Dabble, we're planning on having nine of our friends live here as well. Will that be too much for you?"

"Well miss, I suppose I could handle it; but miss, might I suggest you also hire another elf? My friend Tinker is available for hiring at the time; she was recently subjected to freedom as well."

"I don't suppose you know why, do you?" inquired James.

"Her mistress passed away, leaving behind nobody from her family. She was an only child, who had been widowed and had no children or cousins to speak of."

"Well then, we'd be happy to have her as well as you. I don't suppose you'll take wages, will you?" asked Lily, ever conscious of other peoples' free will.

"Oh no, miss, we couldn't take wages. It would be disgraceful for you to pay us."

"Alright, I guess that if you're ok with it, I should be. Well, why don't you find Tinker and tell her she's got a job. Then you can come straight back here and we'll make up your contracts."

"Very well miss." With that, Dabble left to find Tinker.

"Thank you, Henry, Harriet. It's very nice of you to find us some help. Now then, what about the wards and the security measures?"

"Ah, yes. Well, when you signed the contract the ownership was immediately passed on to you two. What that means is it will automatically recognize you or your children, when you have children, that is. The gate will automatically open for you, you alone can apparate _into_ the house, and until you change it you are the only ones who can floo through the network to and from this house. It is an untraceable network, so nobody can monitor the comings and goings of your fireplace. I also put up wards making it so that underage magic can't be detected here, just like at our house. There are anti-apparition wards all about the property that can be keyed to specific people and let only them through, though they still can't apparate into the house. There's a security panel on the wall by the front door and in each of your offices that flashes red when a new person enters the property. It's charmed much like that map of yours, James. It will show their name and location within a mile of the house and it can't be fooled by spells or potions. It's fascinating, really, how it's done. All the doors are set to lock automatically when everyone is either out of the house or everyone is asleep. It's still good just to check for good measure, but if you happen to forget a door on your way to leave for work you won't have to fret all day about a break-in. The fire in the library cannot, as you've probably guessed, be reached by floo. The one in the kitchen can though, thought it might save Sirius some time being able to go directly to the food. That's all that I can think of, dear. Did I miss anything?" Henry finished his long speech with a curious glance at his wife.

"I don't think so dear. Oh, yes, how to change the wards and floo. Since you're the owners, you get control over who enters your home. This paper has been charmed by the contractor so that only the owners of the house, or their children, can see what's on it. Everyone else will just see a piece of parchment with something official looking on it so that it isn't thrown away. What you do, is make a list of people that you want allowed in under that specific column. For instance, you'll want your friends to be able to apparate and floo in so what you do is put their names under the headline of 'Apparate' and 'Floo'. You can take a name off at any time by simply crossing it out, it will disappear shortly after. I believe that is all. We're so happy you like the house. We'll just head home and let you two look about again." Harriet got up quickly followed by Henry. They walked to the door, but Harriet paused a moment. "Also, before we forget again, you must choose a password for the floo. Normally Potter Residence would work, but that's taken. What you do is point your wand at the fireplace you want for that password and you say your password then '_Flamma Initium'_. That will make it so that the floo network will bring whoever says your password to that fireplace. You can have a separate password for the kitchen fire, as well. That's it. Bye dears."

They promptly left once that explanation was complete. Lily and James immediately set to work on charming their fireplaces, an easy task for them. They decided on 'Kerfuffle' for the kitchen, at least temporarily, because they wanted something fun and they both liked the word. For the sitting room, where they were to greet guests, they chose a sequence of words; 'It's A Small World' became the password to enter their house.

Shortly after they were done with that, Dabble came back with Tinker. James asked Tinker if she'd like wages upon urging from Lily, but Tinker gave the same answer as Dabble. They made their contract, saying that they were the younger Potters' elves and that they were to listen to the people who lived in the house. Lily and James left to tell the others of their new home.

**-Sirius' POV-**

James and Lily had apparated to their _old_ home about five minutes ago. They were upstairs getting some things packed. Sirius decided to go up there and talk to them; he didn't want there to be hard feelings between them. He walked to their room and knocked on their door. When he heard James call 'come in' he entered the room to see half their things shrunk and in a trunk.

"Maybe this isn't a great time. I'll come back later Prongs." Sirius turned to leave but was stopped by a hand on his arm.

"Actually, Padfoot, we wanted to talk to you. We were thinking, if you don't mind that is, that since we have so much space we'd like you to live with us; all of you. You would each have your own floor. What do you say?"

Sirius looked around at Lily and saw her smiling and that was all it took for him to agree, as long as they were sure.

"Of course we're sure. We wanted to check with you before everyone else though, because you'll have to do something with the flat." Lily said smiling still more broadly that her friend was no longer angry at her and her husband.

"Oh, I suppose I'll just keep it for in case we need it. When will you tell the others?"

"Right now," James said, he shouted the second half of his statement. "FLAT MEETING IN FIVE MINUTES!" They continued to pack; Sirius went down to the living room where the others were starting to appear. Sirius saw James walk into the kitchen and heard him talking; _he must be talking to Peter_, Sirius thought. Two minutes later and everyone, Peter included, was in the living room looking to James and Lily.

"Here goes; we've talked to Sirius and now it's your guys' turn. We'd like you all to move in with us. You saw how big the house was, and we want you there with us."

There were excited murmurings throughout the group. Peter, however, spoke up. "I can't, Claudia is moving in with me. Thanks for the offer though." Claudia was Peter's girlfriend of one month.

"Well, you're always welcome there." Lily said.

"Thanks, guys."

"So, what about the rest of you? You'd each get your own floor and get to decorate it to your liking." James added.

"We claim the second floor," said Regulus.

"We'll take the third," said Alice.

"We'll take the fourth floor," answered Rina and Remus simultaneously.

"That leaves us with the fifth floor," Rose deduced.

"Good. Now then, I suggest you pack this evening because we'll be moving in tomorrow. We're just shrinking everything we want and putting it in our old school trunks for easy transport. Also, we're going furniture shopping tomorrow afternoon. Everything is on us, so long as it's bought tomorrow while we're already out. After that, you're on your own. We'll also have to furnish the potions basement, the game basement, the living and sitting rooms, the library, the dining room, and the kitchen. Other things can be added over time, such as the brooms and quidditch set and stuff for the changing room below the pool." Lily proclaimed.

Everyone got up immediately and started packing. It didn't take long because they had magic doing most of the work. They were done in time for dinner so Sirius made some homemade pizza. They watched a movie and talked about tomorrow. Peter had gone home after dinner, saying it was getting late and Claudia was expecting him. Sirius was in a much better mood that evening, less surly and less to himself.

**-Lily's POV-**

Lily never knew that so much was involved in the furnishing of a house. They had all decided to leave all the furniture at the flat and simply get new stuff so that they had a fall-back in case of emergencies. They had all split up to pick out their furnishings and would meet back at the front in two hours to congregate and decorate the first floor and the basements.

Lily and James started with the extra bedrooms and bathrooms. They decided to decorate two of the four extra rooms for guests and leave the other two empty just in case. In the guest bedrooms, they put queen sized, four-poster, featherbeds. One room was green while the other was burgundy in theme. The bathrooms were both receiving the same color theme as the attached bedrooms. They bought comforters, sheets, curtains, hangers, towels, washcloths and pillows to furnish the rooms as well as a dresser and a desk for each bedroom they were decorating. They bought a chaise lounge for each bedroom as well. All that was left was their master bedroom.

They decided on crème walls, a green bedspread, a king-sized four-poster featherbed with a dark oak frame. They decided to put down an area rug that matched the crème color on the walls. They bought two dressers of the same wood as the bed-frame. Lily chose a full length mirror of the same dark wood and James chose a small matching table to write quick owl responses on. For the bathroom, they had tan walls. They got red rugs to put on the tile floor and a matching red shower curtain. They purchased several sets of burgundy towels, rags, and so on. They were now done with their floor, so began heading to meet the others. It seemed they were just in time.

**-Rose's POV-**

Rose was so excited about getting to decorate another house! She absolutely loves this type of thing! She and Sirius had already decided on colors. The sitting room was going to be a crème room, one of the bathrooms would be painted silver and the other would remain white, they would decorate only one of the extra bedrooms. They were planning on painting the extra bedroom pale blue, the kitchenette would remain white, their bedroom would be painted a pale shade of gray and their bathroom would be left white. They picked out everything to match their color schemes for the rooms they were decorating, just the basics because they didn't want to overdo it.

For their bedroom, they chose a small writing table, two ornate dressers, a king-sized featherbed and a floor-length mirror. When they had chosen everything they needed, they met up with their friends to find that they had furnished their rooms similarly; they bought the same types of objects, just in different styles and colors. Once they were all there, their items being held at the counter, they set off to decorate the first floor and the basements.

**-Remus' POV-**

They were now looking for furniture for the library; this was largely being left up to Remus and Lily as they would use it the most. They settled on a set of furniture that had a large couch, two armchairs, a coffee table and two end tables. The fabric was a color very close to parchment with a slightly lighter shade for the stitching. They then moved on to the sitting room. They found some fancy Gryffindor red couches and chairs with dark wood for the frames. They got two chairs and a couch along with some golden pillows; they wanted anyone entering to know they were dealing with a bunch of Gryffindors. They got a golden pot for the floo powder to sit in atop the mantle.

After that they went to furnish the living room. They got some squishy armchairs and matching couches that reminded them of the Gryffindor common room. They got, all in all for that room, five chairs and two couches. They also got a coffee table, some end tables, and an entertainment center; they were going shopping for electronics later. For the kitchen, they bought a medium sized table, some chairs and some stools for at the counter. Lily and Sirius chose some pots and pans to cook with. For the dining room, they chose a beautiful crystal chandelier, a long table, and a bunch of chairs. They bought their dishes as well; white plates with gold in-laid lions around the edges. They got silverware and red napkins along with some candelabras.

They were now done with the first floor, so they moved on to the potions basement. They got several working tables and a couple of cupboards. When they were done with that, they went to work on the game room.

It was to be painted; the top half was going to be a scene of the sky and the bottom half would be grass. To separate the two would be a moving border with quidditch players chasing each other around it. They got a bar for one end of the room and some bar stools to go with. The guys picked out a pool table that was of a dark wood with burgundy felt. They also got an air-hockey table and a foosball table. James picked out a dart board to go on the wall and some pool-cue racks to hold their pool-sticks. The decided to put in wall-to-wall carpeting, it was off-white in color. They chose some lamps to hang above the various tables and some sconces for the walls by the doors and around the room. They were finally done with the furniture, so James and Lily made their way to the register and paid for everything.

**-Sirius' POV-**

They had finished buying furniture, so they went to a muggle appliance store. Sirius had noticed James looking away from the total on the receipt when it was handed to them. They had all the stuff shrunk and put it into bags, making a total of about twenty bags. They had clearly labeled all the boxes so that they could be sorted rather quickly back home. They walked into the muggle store and Sirius was shocked. The purchases here were being undertaken by Lily, Rose and Remus as they had the most knowledge of muggle affairs.

Lily and Rose went and picked out two large televisions; one for the living room and one for the game room. They then picked out four medium sized televisions; one for each sitting room on floors 2-5. Then they got some smaller televisions; one for each of the eleven bedrooms being decorated. They got a VCR, whatever that was, for each television as well. For the kitchen, they got a refrigerator, a stove, a microwave, a toaster and a coffee maker. They got one printer for the library. They also got some tape players.

Then they involved the others. They told them to pick out some movies and tapes that they liked or wanted. They each went and grabbed a ton of movies and tapes. Sirius picked out all of his favorite music on tape. They paid for everything and left. Sirius began to wonder how they would get all of this to work as it was a magical house with no electricity, or even plugs for that matter.

"Lily, how's all this going to work?" Sirius asked after pondering this for a few moments.

"Well, when I started Hogwarts I wanted to bring my music with but I was told that the electricity stored in batteries wouldn't work due to all the magic so I started working on charms to recreate the effect of electricity. I've been working on it ever since, and I believe I've finally perfected it. When we get back to the house and after all the furniture's put away, I was going to try the charms on one of the TV's and see if it would work."

"Cool, I hope it does. No chance of shocking myself that way. Will you show me how to do the charms," asked Remus after overhearing the conversation.

"Sure, if you want to. They're really very simple to do. I've got the spells and how to use them and what for written down."

"Excellent!" Remus was obviously now looking forward to being done un-packing.

**-Lily's POV-**

They got everything put in its place quickly; ten wizards all working together using magic to unpack makes things go rather fast. When they were done, they had some dinner made by Tinker; Dabble did better with cleaning than cooking. After eating, Lily and Remus went into the living room and she began showing him how to charm electrical objects to work magically.

"So, first you have to determine how much power a particular item will need to go through it at any given time; muggles generally have a voltage level that will work splendidly for conversion to how strong a charm is needed. Once you have that figured out, you point your wand at the cord and say the charm with varying amounts of intensity and various extensions to the spell depending on the object. Once you've got the 'electricity' running through the cords, all you do is put on a permanent replenishing charm to make the electricity spell go on continuously, at least until a countercharm is used on it. It's rather simple really; the difficult part was in figuring out the charms. So, let's give it a try on the TV for the living room." Lily showed Remus the charms and had him check the voltage on the TV to see which charm and inflection to use.

Remus said the charms and spells; then Lily put a plastic cover on the plug so that nobody would get shocked if they touched it and she went around back to the front.

"You know what else I like about this? You can keep the cord bundled up so you don't trip all over it or have those unsightly things showing about the house. Why don't you turn it on, Remus, you charmed it."

"All right," Remus walked over to the TV and turned it on. "It works! This is amazing!"

"Good, now we can charm the batteries in the remote as well so that they never die."

When that was finished, they went around the house setting up all the TV's, radios, VCR's, tape players and kitchen appliances. It was well past midnight before all was said and done.

"Good work, Lily. You know, you could write a book about that. I'm sure Arthur Weasley would read it." Remus chuckled.

"I'm sure you're right. Thanks for all the help. Let's turn in; we have some stuff to do later today."

They both went up to their newly furnished rooms; James was watching a muggle game of tennis when Lily walked in.

"I just don't get it. All they do is hit a ball back and forth between them, yet I'm completely entranced by it." Lily laughed for a moment before regaining her composure. "What's so funny? Never mind. How'd you and Remus do on the charms?"

"Well. We've finished setting everything up."

"That's great. Tomorrow, we should tell Dumbledore about all out new space."

"Sounds good; we can all go to visit him after breakfast."

They went to bed shortly after their conversation; James was still transfixed by the tennis match and he got Lily involved as well.

**-James' POV-**

The next day, they had planned on going to Scotland for a festival but went to Hogwarts instead. They got up and ate a wonderfully prepared breakfast; made by Tinker, she wouldn't let Sirius or Lily help at all. Everyone flooed to Dumbledore's office when they were done eating.

"What can I do for you?" he asked upon seeing them all come out of the fireplace, one right after another.

"Well sir, we came to tell you about our new residence. You see, my parents bought Lily and I a, well it's a mansion, and we wanted to let you know that we've moved in there along with all those present now sir."

"How much space does this house have, James?"

"It's got six above-ground floors and two basements. On the first floor there're our studies, library, dining hall, kitchen, sitting room and living room. The first floor alone would hold the Order plus some. Why do you ask sir?"

"Call me Albus; and I ask because the Order is, once again, in search of a Headquarters. What is the security like there?"

"Private Floo network, anti-apparition, and all sorts of wards Albus. They're all keyed to Lily and me. We're going to add the others to the clearance list today. We just write their names on a piece of paper only Lily and I can properly read and they have as much clearance as we give them; no potions or spells can fool the wards or floo network." James decided to keep the bit about the security panels to himself, and saw that Lily would as well. "We'd be happy to have headquarters at our house sir, there's plenty of space for guests to sleep if they have to stay over as well."

"Thank you James. I'd also like to suggest putting a Fidelius Charm on the house; you would choose a secret keeper, anyone you wish including yourselves, who would be the only one capable of giving out the location of your home. I would volunteer myself if you so wish me to hold your secret."

"Thank you Albus, but we'll think on that for a few days before we give you our decision. We're not in any immediate danger, at any rate, so there's no hurry. But it's a marvelous idea, at any rate. I read about it in one of our books at our library." Lily went on to tell Dumbledore about the library and its many wonders. They told Dumbledore they'd be giving him full clearance and when they told him the words to get through the floo, he laughed at Kerfuffle. They left the office by way of floo once more and James distinctly heard Dumbledore humming 'It's A Small World' before he flooed out.

**-Dumbledore's POV-**

He had hoped the Potter's would get back to him rather quickly; they were in more danger because of the amount of people in their house. He was considering owling them when he heard the fire come to life. He spun on his heel and turned to see Lily looking at the fireplace awaiting James' arrival. When James spun into view, they dusted each other off and turned to greet him.

"Hello Albus," James began.

"Hello James, Lily. I expect you are well, as you're not bleeding, so let's get to business here. Have you decided if you're positive of the use of your house for headquarters?"

"Oh yes, that we're sure of. We've also decided to set a secret-keeper like you suggested. We think someone who lives in the house would be best so that they don't get cornered alone. We've also agreed that if we leave the house, it's with at least one other."

"Very well; who have you chosen to keep your secret? My offer still stands to hold it for you."

"We were wondering first, Albus, if it's possible to have joint secret keepers?"

"Why, I don't believe that I've heard of it being done before. Let me just check…" Dumbledore waved his hand and a book floated off of one of the shelves into his hand. He opened it up and began scanning a well-read page. "It says here, that while possible, it is rather a hindrance because both people have to share the secret for the place to become visible to the one being told. It also says it's a mite more difficult to perform, but that should be no problem. Before you choose for sure though, I would like to inform you that we believe there to be a spy in the Order."

"Why's that? We haven't noticed anything fishy. Who do you think it could be?"

"I have many suspicions, but the point is you'll have to be careful in choosing. However, if this news has no effect on your decision, we can perform the spell today."

"No sir, we have no doubt about the people to hold the secret. We decided that if it couldn't be done with a pair, we'd have Sirius; but since it can, we've decided on Sirius and me," Lily declared. "We thought it best to not have a married couple, as those will be our pairs on most days, and to have both be current residents of the house."

"That sounds plausible. Very well, the house will need to be clear of everyone but Sirius and you Lily. We can have the spell done by this evening. James, why don't you go tell Sirius to come here and you can begin clearing the others out of the house."

James left promptly. Sirius came through a few moments later, looking somewhat nervous.

"Sirius, I assume you've been informed of the part you're to play in this evenings undertaking?" Sirius nodded. "Good, I will now go into more detail for you about the charm whilst we give James time to get everyone out. The Fidelius Charm was invented to protect a man named Frederick Fidelius. He was being followed rather closely by medieval witch hunters and got tired of running, so he invented this spell to only allow those he told of his whereabouts to find him. It has been used many a time before now for the same reason; protection. Now then, you have many reasons to use this spell; one is that you have such a great number of Aurors and Order members dwelling at your home, another is that it is unsafe for anyone, really, to be about without protection. These are dark times, you see. The newspapers don't print all the deaths in articles; you'd have to thoroughly read the obituaries to find all the deaths. Alright, now on to the charm itself. The charm will be set up while in the house. We'll get to the rest of this at the house, as I believe James will have gotten everyone out by now."

They all flooed back to the house and searched it thoroughly, finding that nobody was there they began. They went to the fireplace in the sitting room and knelt before it as Dumbledore instructed them.

"You must do so here, as it's one of the more frequented entrances to the house. Now then, Lily you take Sirius' right wrist in your right hand, Sirius you do the same. Now, both of you grab my left wrist with your left hands." Dumbledore held out his left arm for them to take and once they had he continued. "Once I have finished the spell, you say the address of the house and the password for the fireplaces; sitting room first then kitchen. This will also block those off to anyone who doesn't have your permission." Dumbledore took out his wand and began incanting the spell. "_Fidelio Amicus Defendo hec Domus!_" When he had finished, Lily and Sirius said the address for the Godric's Hollow home. Once they had uttered the address, Dumbledore's wand emitted a glowing blue light that surrounded Lily and Sirius. "Now that that's done, I will have to leave momentarily until you join me outside and tell me the residence. Quickly now, I only have a few moments before I'm stunned."

They walked outside and saw the others looking about curiously.

"I guess it worked then, huh," said James, looking to where his home should be.

"Yes it did, wonderfully. Now then, just for the sake of formality, I'll need to check you all for spells, potions, dangerous intent and whatnot before I can allow Lily and Sirius to disclose the secret to you. I will also undergo these tests, if you so wish it."

Dumbledore then began testing everyone present for any possible intent of harm towards Lily, Sirius or anyone else who is supposed to live there. Everyone passed, of course, and then they tested Dumbledore; to practice their spell-work, of course. Once everyone had been cleared, Lily and Sirius took out a piece of paper and both wrote down the address for the others to read, promptly burning it when they were all done. They all went back in and invited Dumbledore for some tea and a tour. They showed him around the house and the grounds; he had to admit that he was rather impressed with the living space. He told them that he would set a meeting for that Saturday, and told Lily and Sirius to prepare to meet everyone outside the gate with their paper and quills; Dumbledore would be giving them clearance one-by-one and letting them in that way.

Dumbledore left after the tea and headed back to his office. He called Minerva up to discuss the next meeting; they had a lot to do to prepare for it. He told her to send out a patronus to everyone with the message 'Saturday; 7 p.m.; Hogwarts Entrance Hall'. They would meet here and he would give apparition instructions. He was rather looking forward to this weeks meeting; he always got a good laugh from the young Weasley twins, they would be a handful for Minerva in a few years, he knew. He retired for the evening, as he was rather drained from his day. As he got into bed he thought about the Potters and all the others inhabiting that house. One thing was for sure; they definitely caught on quickly to taking security measures. Of course, having Alastor Moody for a teacher could do that to anyone.

**_A/N: What'd ya think? Was it any good? Well, next chapter will be up shortly…my muse has paid me a much needed visit. The song _It's A Small World_ is obviously not owned by me, but rather by Disney. If you didn't notice before, I enjoyed the ride immensely. There'll be a lot of events coming up shortly that will set more things into motion and so on; it's really an endless cycle. Oh well, plenty to write about at least. _**


	10. Breaking, Renewal and Beginning of Ties

_**A/N: I'm not entirely sure the song fits, but I think it should fairly well. If someone can come up with a better suggestion, put it in a review and if I concur, I'll change it. Enjoy the chapter.**_

**Chapter 9: Breaking, Renewal and Beginning of Ties**

_Song: One Thing_

_By: Finger Eleven_

**-Lily's POV-**

Sirius and Lily had been instructed by Dumbledore to wait outside the gates at 7:30 p.m. with the address written down to allow the other Order members in. It was about 7:20 when they walked out, leaving the others in the house to finish preparing everything. They had gone out that day and bought a few dozen chairs for the members of the Order to use. They were just finishing setting them up now. Lily decided that she might as well chat with Sirius while waiting for the others to come.

"How do you like the new living arrangements so far?" Lily asked Sirius before he had a chance to pose his own question.

"Well enough, I suppose. There's much more space to spread out in. I love the quidditch pitch and the game room. How about you? You enjoy your new house?"

"Only TONS! Can you _believe_ the size of the library they gave me? I mean us? It's huge! I could spend days in there and not even find every book! I looked through what types of sections there were and noticed a section of muggle books; biographies, romance novels and a lot of others that I'm sure would make you laugh with some of their theories. Not to mention, the huge bedroom. Our closet is as big as Madam Malkin's shop." Lily replied enthusiastically. Sirius chuckled at the comment about their closet; the closets were huge.

"I'm glad you like it. It was nice of you guys to invite us here."

"Oh, it's no better than you inviting all of us to live in your flat after graduation. That was nice as well, considering you could have done anything with that space. Besides, I don't think James would survive a day without plotting pranks with you on Remus and the others. We'd both miss you, although I think James would miss you more than I would; not that we're not good friends as well, I just think that-" Sirius cut her off there.

"I understand. No need for you to ramble on and on about how good of friends we are; I know James would miss me more than you, we've been friends longer. Don't fret, I'm not offended."

"Wow, Sirius Black being mature instead of making a sarcastic comment. I think this is the start of something beautiful; a third grown-up in the house. Remus will be so thrilled!"

"What about Frank and Alice? They're certainly grown-ups."

"That's different; they've always been that way. Remus and I did have to grow up, just not as much as the rest of you. We did it more discreetly and a lot sooner; but we did have to."

"Well, that's a well kept secret. Lily Potter and Remus Lupin weren't mature their whole lives. I think I shall go into shock soon, what with this new revelation and my sudden maturity, it's amazing I haven't passed out from all the excitement." Sirius said with mock-wonder and amazement in his voice.

"Oh, bugger off. You know, I thought you were growing up, but maybe I was wrong. Oh well, you're always good for a laugh; or to laugh_ at_." Lily said, causing Sirius to glare at her. They were stopped from any further exchange of witty-banter by the arrival of Dumbledore and the Order. Dumbledore greeted them quickly then began scanning the members one by one for spells, potions, or harmful intent. Once they had been checked, Dumbledore sent them to Lily and Sirius to read the address whereupon they looked at the mansion and began walking towards the door which was being opened by James. Lily and Sirius began chatting again lightly, ignoring people for the most part, until they were interrupted by a woman greeting Sirius. She was average height with dark blonde hair and heavily lidded eyes that were beautiful on her; unlike her sisters. She walked up and lightly punched Sirius on the arm.

"What's the deal with you being here, Sirius?" asked the woman, a playful smile on her lips. "Its real work and adult situations, I thought you'd be clear across town by now. Almost didn't believe Dumbledore when he said you'd be here."

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the old blood-traitor in arms. It's been a while, Andy. How're Ted and Young Tonks? I still can't believe you named her Nymphadora." When Lily looked at the woman, she recognized her as none other than Sirius' cousin, Andromeda Tonks, who had also been blown off the family tree because she married a muggle.

"Their fine; and don't call her Tonks, you'll only encourage her. Nymphadora is a perfectly lovely name."

"I still say they gave you too many pain potions for you to properly name a child, as was proven when you chose Nymphadora. I don't blame her for hating it. How've you been though? Been keeping in touch with the family lately?"

"I've been fine. I'm kind of looking for work right now, not sure if I want to work in the magical or muggle world. I'm leaning towards magical, of course, but there's always the option if I must. And you know very well that I don't keep in contact with the family. The last time I've spoken to anyone but you from my genetic family was the day I announced I had married Ted; since then any attempt they've had at talking to me, I've ignored entirely."

"Well then, you should go inside. You'll have quite the little shock, you will. Oh, and by the way, ask for Rose; she'll fill you in, and I'm sorry in advance for what you'll find out."

Andy walked away with a suspicious look on her face, glancing back at Sirius a few times.

"Why didn't you just tell her you'd gotten married and Regulus had left the family as well?" Lily inquired, striking up another conversation.

"Because she's got a nasty temper, that one, and I'll be damned if I'm gonna be the one she blows up at. Let her talk to Rose, she won't yell at a person she's never met before; even if it is her favorite cousins wife. Or even Regulus, she never did yell at him."

"You're cruel, did you know that? Sending a potential explosion at your wife; you should be ashamed of yourself."

"Hey, it's like I said. She won't blow up at a person she's not met before."

"Whatever. There's only a few left and my presence isn't required here, so I'm gonna go in and play interference just in case Andy goes for Regulus." With that, Lily left for the mansion. She walked up to the house and the door was opened, once again, by James.

"Hey, what're you doing here? There're still people out there." James asked when he saw Lily at the door.

"Sirius sent Andromeda to talk to Rose without giving out vital pieces of information." She didn't need to elaborate any further, as James had known Andy for a while and knew what would happen when said information was found out.

"Best hurry then; I saw Rose leading her over to Regulus and Andy had that falsely polite look on her face that she generally wore after we'd pranked her and a teacher was talking to one of us about something or other, thus postponing her ability to retaliate. She'll be pissed off right about now."

James had to answer the door again, so Lily walked over to Regulus without wasting any time.

"Regulus," Lily hissed, "be on the look-out. Andy's here and she just found out about your recent family goings-on. Sirius neglected to tell her anything then sent her in to talk to Rose. I think she's about to get over her scruples against yelling at you."

"Thanks. I'll keep that in mind; although she never did get upset at me…" but Regulus was cut off by the arrival of said cousin.

"Oh, I got mad at you alright; I just took it out on Sirius. He was a much better target as he never got upset and he didn't go to Aunt Walburga when he got yelled at; unlike some people I know."

"Hello Andy," Regulus said, trying desperately to be cheery. "How've you been recently? How's that lovely daughter of yours, Nymphadora?"

"Trying to suck up, huh? Well, I see how it is. Just leave your favorite cousin out of everything just because she's old and married." Andy said, trying to lay a guilt trip on Regulus for leaving her out; it appeared to Lily that Andy had in fact not gotten over her hesitation of yelling at Regulus.

"You're not old; well, not that old at any rate," Regulus added that last bit to let Andy know he wasn't falling for her guilt. Lily recognized the type of conversational dancing they were doing; she'd seen Sirius chat in a similar way with Andy a few years back. "But, just so we're up front about anything, I'm getting married as well."

"Yes, I know. Sirius' lovely wife has filled me in. How'd he marry someone like her, anyway?"

"Nobody knows; they just work well together and she seems to love him." Regulus said with a joking note in his voice. "But, I'm marrying Holly in January; that is if we can wait that long. We've been dating for nearly two years now and we both of us want to get married sooner than January. Ah well, I'll let you know all the same when we set the final date for or if we decide to elope in the heat of the moment some night."

"Very well; I suppose you've somewhat redeemed yourself. I might just have to team up with Remus and James to get you both back later. How've you been Lily? I didn't' get the chance to speak with you outside."

"Oh, I'm well enough. Just to be sure; you do know that James and I got married, right?"

"Oh yes, I knew that. Wasn't much of a surprise either, if truth be told."

"Alright, and just to make doubly sure, you know that Remus married Rina and Frank married Alice and that we're all living here together?"

"Yes, I got quite a bit of information out of Rose before seeking out Regulus. I also heard that Peter is moving in with some girl. Who'd a thought that little Peter would find someone?"

"I'm going to have to talk to Rose about who she tells what," Regulus said all of a sudden. "She should be more careful, what with angry cousins on the warpath and whatnot."

"Oh give it up; it's your own damn fault that you didn't tell me anything. Besides, you can't talk to her now the meeting is starting."

They all walked into the dining hall where people were starting to get settled. They were all sitting in the third row of chairs; James was waving them over. They all went to sit down and Andy made sure she stepped on Sirius' foot as she passed, gesturing to James and Remus that she wanted a word after the meeting. Dumbledore began the same way he usually did; with the induction of new members. Andy was one of these new members and she 'accidentally' stepped on Sirius foot twice more; once when she went up and once when she came back to her seat.

After the inductions, of which there were 5 total, Dumbledore went on to talk about their most recent information. Next he asked if anyone had information to add; McGonagall stood up again.

"Yes Albus; we've been monitoring Lucius Malfoy and Severus Snape as you requested and we have some reports to give. Lucius Malfoy has been seen with known Death Eaters as well as others suspected of bearing the mark. He has been sighted at several raids and placed at many murders; this is all to be expected, of course, as we already knew he was a confirmed supporter. What's new, though, is that we've confirmed that Narcissa Malfoy does not in fact have a Dark Mark and we have not placed her with any Death Eaters or at any attacks. We have overheard some conversations between the two through various methods and have heard Lucius practically ordering her to take the mark, but she refuses him as though he's offering her a sweet. As for Severus, he has recently been confirmed as a Death Eater. We've seen him at raids and witnesses have notified the authorities of strange curses that act like the ones he was always making up at Hogwarts. He has also been spotted quite frequently with Lucius and Bellatrix Lestrange; another confirmed Death Eater. We still believe him to be brewing unknown potions for You-Know-Who."

"Thank you Minerva. I had hoped we would be wrong about Severus, but alas, there is naught we can do about it. Please continue your surveillance of Mr. Malfoy and Mr. Snape, it could provide us with key information. Now then, does anyone else have information to provide?"

"Yes Albus. We've got more of the Aurors in the office thinking about supporting Voldemort; we keep close track of who's leaning towards the dark, but we can't do anything until they're open about their support."

"Thank you Alastor. Has anybody got any more reports? No? Very well, then I would like to inform you all about our meeting place. This home belongs to James and Lily Potter and they have graciously allowed us the use of their home for our future meetings. You will all need to add your names to the list on the table in the kitchen, as they need your names for you to keep access to their home. From this point forward, you can continue to apparate; however I must ask that you not abuse that. The Potters have informed me that they would be more than happy to have any of you here at any time, but I do not wish for their privacy to be infringed upon. They also tell me it won't be necessary for the circuit of food as they have obtained two house elves that are very capable of making the refreshments. That is all, please make your way to the kitchen for some dinner and add your name to the list while you're there."

Everybody got up to leave and eat. Sirius left with them, Lily saw, as did Frank, Alice, Peter and Rose. The rest stayed to chat with Andy about her first meeting among other things.

"So, how'd you enjoy the meeting Andy?" Remus inquired.

"Screw the small-talk, what'd you want to talk about?" James asked bluntly.

"About pranking Sirius. We haven't gotten to since I left Hogwarts; those were always my favorite pranks to pull, the ones getting Sirius. Maybe we can walk and talk; I'd like a tour of your house, if you don't mind."

"Of course not," they began walking towards the stairs leading up to the sixth floor. "So," began Lily, "the sixth floor is mine and James'. Below that on the fifth is Sirius and Rose, fourth is Remus and Rina, third is Frank and Alice, and second is Regulus and Holly." They walked up and showed Andy floors 2-6. When they were done, they walked to the bottom-most basement and showed her their Potions Lab. They then showed her their game room; though refrained from the revealing of the passages, which only those inhabiting the house got to know about for now. Back on the first floor, they showed her about and once they were in Lily's office, their last stop, they began discussing a prank on Sirius.

"I haven't seen the bloke in a few years, what would be a good prank?" Andy inquired.

"Oh, not much; he's stopped being phased by pranks; all he does is try to get even." Remus answered.

"We'll just have to think of something then, won't we? What about…" James trailed off, drawing into his own thoughts.

"We'd better get back; a tour can only last so long. Maybe you should reconsider the prank, Andy, it won't do much good." Remus said, proving to be logical once again.

"You old fuddy-duddy; you always have to be the mature one, don't you?" Andy said, sounding a little frustrated at Remus.

They all walked back into the kitchen and go some food. Andy sought out Sirius, planning on finding some stuff out about him for use later on. The crowd slowly began dissipating and soon all that were left besides the group of friends were Dumbledore, McGonagall, Moody and Andy.

**-James' POV-**

"Potter, Evans…" Moody began, but was interrupted by James.

"Moody, you know very well her name's Potter now; you walked her down the aisle for crying out loud!"

"Of course I know that Potter, I'm not daft. I'm just not going to be calling out Potter in the office and have both of you show up. She's still Evans at work; same for Smith and Pearl. As I was saying; Potter, Evans, Black, Pearl, Longbottom, Smith and Pettigrew, you'll start work on Monday. We have a mission for you seven; I'll be leading the group. We'll be going to Bulgaria; there's news of heavy Death Eater recruiting there. We'll be going to check out someone named Igor Karkaroff; he's supposedly the main recruiter, which means we take him down at all costs upon confirmation of his position. We leave at 7:00 a.m.; don't even bother apparating to work, I'll just come here. Got it?" Moody barked out their orders in his gruff voice.

"Yes sir!" they all shouted in reply; every one of them grinning at the prospect of their first mission out of training.

"Good; I'll be going now. See you lot Monday." Moody left after that, heading for the front door.

"So, professors, would you like anything more to eat or drink? Or perhaps a tour; Professor Dumbledore's already seen the place but I could show you around Professor McGonagall." Lily suggested.

"Call me Minerva, dear, and that would be lovely I think. Let's see this house of yours. I hear you have a wonderful library."

"Oh yes…" Lily's voice trailed off as she left the room with McGonagall.

"So, Albus, how's the school doing?" Remus inquired, starting up a conversation.

"Fantastically, I must say, although we are short a couple professors this year. Professor Slughorn has decided to retire as have Professor's Philips and Sinistra; the Divination professor not the Astronomy. I've got an interview with a Miss Sybil Trelawney tomorrow for the Divination post; she's the great-granddaughter of Cassandra Trelawney, although truth be told I don't think she's got the gift. I'm considering just dropping the subject. I have to find a Defense teacher, Potions as well."

"Well, Professor Dumbledore, I'm looking for a job. I could take over Defense; I was fairly good at that." Andromeda spoke up.

"Really, that would be most helpful. And I do believe that you got 'Outandings' in your Defense O.W.L. and N.E.W.T. I thank you; I'll owl you the start of term information and your schedule. You will, of course, be given your own living quarters. I believe you have a daughter, correct?" Andy nodded. "Very well, we'll make sure you have a spare room for her in your quarters as well."

"Thank you Professor, but there's also the business of my husband being a muggle."

"Ah yes, the anti-muggle charms. Those can be overcome by a simple counter-charm performed on the person in question. It shan't be a problem, my dear."

"Wonderful!" Andy exclaimed. "I can't wait to start; I always wanted to go back to Hogwarts after I left."

"Most do, most do. Well, I still have to find a Potions Professor. I don't suppose any of you has the sudden urge to teach?"

"Sorry professor, I think we're all happy with our current career choices." Sirius replied for them all, everyone nodded in agreement; all but one. James didn't think anyone else saw Regulus looking off into space with a contemplative expression adorning his face; it only lasted a second before Regulus shook his head and it was gone, but James had seen it and he had the feeling that they would be hearing more about this topic later on.

"Yes, I thought so. Then there's the business of a school nurse. Poppy Pomfrey was supposed to stay, but she's considering going to St. Mungo's to work; she's not sure children are who she wants to work on for the rest of her career and I'm not sure I blame her. But, on to more pleasant things; I hear you have a pool table. I used to be fairly good at the game; anyone fancy a game or two?" Dumbledore asked, sounding suddenly enthusiastic at the prospect of a game.

They all agreed and headed down to the game room. They were going to play teams; James and Sirius vs. Dumbledore and Andy. Dumbledore broke and claimed stripes for him and Andy. They played a rather quick game, as everyone was fairly good. Dumbledore got in four balls before he missed. In the end, Dumbledore and Andy won. They traded partners for a second game; James and Andy vs. Sirius and Dumbledore. This time James and Andy won. They traded again for a third game; James and Dumbledore vs. Andy and Sirius. They were playing when Lily walked in with McGonagall, having finished the tour. The others had started to play other games while the pool games went on. Regulus and Frank were playing air-hockey; Alice, Rina, Rose and Holly were playing darts, and apparently Peter had left after the first game of pool had been finished; he claimed it was getting late.

They continued playing for a good while; McGonagall and Lily joined the games of pool for some team cut-throat. James saw Regulus pull Dumbledore aside for a moment in-between games; though he wasn't positive about what was being said, he had a fairly good idea it was about a certain job. When they finally finished playing, it was getting on to be about 11:00. The Professors left for Hogwarts when they saw the time. Andy, however, stayed a while longer.

"Why not play some cards? We could play some poker; you lot never were that good." Andy suggested.

"You don't want to go home, do you?" asked Regulus, sounding extremely amused.

"Not particularly, Ted doesn't often have the energy to look after Nymphadora alone; but he did tonight and I want to enjoy being in the company of other adults for a while. Ted's at work all day and when he comes home he spends time with Nymphadora, understandable of course, but then when she's in bed he's to tired to do anything himself. I just want some grown-up time. So, what about those cards?" she asked with a smile.

"I'm in," said James.

"Me too," said Sirius. The others all nodded their agreement as well so they went to the dining room to play. James went to fetch a deck of muggle cards. They played for a few hours; Five-Card Draw, Texas Hold 'Em, Whist, Michigan Rummy and so on. James and Sirius had been very interested in muggle card games a few years back, so they knew a lot.

People started getting tired and going to bed, so before long the game was down to Andy, James, Sirius and Regulus. Sirius, Regulus and Andy began talking about how they hated their genetic family and how they're glad they'd been taken off the tapestry. They also talked about how they _knew_ that Snape had to be a Death Eater and how they'd always hated him and known him to be and evil git. It was almost four in the morning before Andy finally left for home. James just decided to leave the cards on the table for the 'night' and go to bed. Sirius and Regulus went up as well. When James dropped into bed, he tried to not wake Lily up but was unsuccessful.

"What t-t-time is it?" she managed to yawn out.

"It's four-thirty, love, just go back to sleep." James replied.

"You're just coming up to bed? Andy must really be desperate for adult conversation if she thinks she'll find it with you three at four in the morning." She smirked at James, trying not to laugh at his look of fake-outrage. "Oh, come now, you know I'm joking; at least about you. Get some rest; we were going to do…something…later on. I can't remember what. This is an un-godly hour, you know."

"That it is. I tried to be quiet. Let's get some sleep, eh love?" James fell asleep immediately when his head hit the pillow.

**-Rose's POV-**

It was now Tuesday afternoon and Rose was at St. Mungo's. They had gone on their mission yesterday and everything seemed fine. They had gotten in and had visual confirmation, a dark mark on the left forearm, that Karkaroff is a Death Eater. They had gone to arrest him when he began shooting off different curses at them; all of them rather nasty. They had gotten out quickly, but James had managed to stun Karkaroff and take him along via portkey. Rose was now sitting in her bed awaiting approval to go.

She had been hit with a strong boil curse; they'd taken what seemed like forever to remove. The nurse came in and told her where she could find the others at. She walked to the next room where she saw Sirius sitting up in his bed waiting for her.

"Hello love. How're you?" he asked.

"Well enough; they finally got the boils to go away. How are you?"

"They say that the cuts should heal well, possibly without any scars." Sirius had been hit with a whipping hex on the back; probably why he wasn't lying down. "I don't suppose you know where the others are, do you? They wouldn't tell me anything."

"Lily and James were both ok, but I'm told they were fretting so much that the nurses banned them from entering the hospital to visit us. Peter was also alright, but he went home to Claudia. Frank and Alice are in another ward; they were both hit with _Crucio_, but nothing major came of it. They're just fairly weak right now. And Moody, well he got the worst. It seems Snape has been sharing his curses with the other spineless gits. Karkaroff sent some spell directly at Moody's face; it, well it cut out his eye."

"What? What do you mean it cut out his eye?"

"Just what I said; it cut out his left eye. They're going to give him a replacement, but they can't heal it."

"Those bloody bastards! They had to take his eye as well, didn't they? Not enough that they took his leg and part of his nose, is it? No! They have to cut out his eye!"

"Calm down. They say he'll heal fine and that he can leave today as well. They're debating letting you out today; your cuts are mostly healed but there's still some chance for infection."

"That's just an excuse; they want to keep me and my sunny personality here as long as they can for their own entertainment. I hate hospitals. You remember there was hardly a week that went by where one of us wasn't in the hospital wing?"

"Yeah, I remember; if it wasn't James with a quidditch injury, then it was you with some hex from Snivellus and if it wasn't that Remus had his 'furry little problem' or one of you had gotten into a fight. By the end of the year, you lot were on a first name basis with the nurses; the good old days." Rose said all of this with a wistful expression on her face.

They continued to chat for a while until the nurse came in and gave him clearance to leave. They went to check on Frank and Alice next, only to find they'd been laced with a pepper-up potion and given permission to leave. Rose decided they should go check on Moody, so they walked to where he was being held. When they saw the eye that he'd been given to replace his old one, they barely contained their amusement.

The rather large blue eye was spinning around in the socket. Moody looked up at them with his normal eye and grunted for a greeting.

"So, how are you doing Moody?" Alice asked.

"Well enough. This eye is better than my old one. It gets a 360 degree view and it can see through anything; including invisibility cloaks. Potter'll have a hard time sneaking in late now."

"Well, so long as you're satisfied." Rose said rather awkwardly, obviously confused about the situation.

"You know, we've got to give you a proper nickname to go along with that eye." Sirius began. "What about Blue, or Spinner? No, I've got it! It's positively brilliant!"

"Just spit it out Black before I have them remove you to the nutter's ward." Moody said.

"Hold on to your knickers; Mad-Eye. It's perfect. It fits and it's funny."

"Oh, yeah, it's really funny, Sirius," Frank said sarcastically. "A man loses his eye and all you can do is come up with humorous nicknames. By the way, has anyone ever noted the irony of your name, Sirius? Because I've noticed, just the tiniest bit, that you're not very serious." Frank finished, again with sarcasm in his voice.

"Oh, it's been noted many times. Usually by professors or the more mature students; but you're not the first with that train of thought." Rose answered.

They chatted idly with Moody for a while until they heard shouting down the hallway.

"I suppose we should have informed James of our release; I'll be right back." Sirius left to collect an irate James before he was permanently banned from the hospital.

They returned a few minutes later, Lily walking behind them and chuckling to herself. They filled the two in on their health and then talked some more with Moody. They were about to leave when, "I'd better see you lot at the office tomorrow." They all glanced at Moody before nodding resignedly and leaving.

**-Regulus' POV-**

It had been a week since the Order meeting. Regulus had talked to Holly and they'd made a decision. He had just sent a letter to Dumbledore so now all they had to do was tell everyone else. They went downstairs to the living room and found everyone watching TV. Regulus went and stood in front of the TV. Sirius and James grumbled, but Lily and Remus noticed he had something to say so Remus shut the TV off. Holly came and stood next to him. He looked at everyone and decided he was as ready as he'd ever get.

"I've decided to take the Potions position and Head of Slytherin at Hogwarts and Holly is going with to be the school Nurse." He had decided that being blunt was the best way to go about it.

"That's sudden. Since when did you want to teach?" Sirius asked.

"I've been thinking about it since Dumbledore told us he was looking for professors a week ago. I talked with Holly and she said that she was interested in the Nurse position so we decided to take up the posts this year. We actually have to be there two weeks before term starts. We're going to go for a year and see how we like it before committing to long term." Regulus replied. He looked around again and saw that everyone was smiling. "What's going on? What's with all the smiles? Are you that eager to get rid of us?"

"No, it's just that, you sound so determined to do this. Plus, none of us ever thought you'd be a teacher; Remus yes, but not you. We're just shocked is all; happy, but shocked nonetheless." Lily answered.

"Whatever. We're happy with our decision; we hope you all are."

"We are; we're going to miss you both though." Rose said. "It'll be weird not having my favorite brother-in-law around."

"I'm your _only_ brother-in-law, Rose." Regulus replied cockily.

"Not true; my sister eloped with some bloke so now I have _two_ brother-in-laws." She stuck her tongue out at him as a sign of victory.

"We're all happy for you though, you guys. We're glad you've chosen something you'll enjoy." Alice contributed.

"Thanks. We'll miss you too. Maybe you can come and stay at Hogwarts every so often. 'The Marauders: Round Two'. I can see McGonagall's face now. We can come back for breaks, as well."

"Excellent. Well then, get out," Sirius said with a pretend serious face.

"We will, in about two week's time. Until then, you'll just have to suffer through our company," Holly said.

"Drat; there goes the neighborhood." James joked.

"Oh yeah, because you lot are a real high-class bunch. I trust you'll keep up the besmirching of our good name whilst we're away, Sirius." Regulus said, turning to his brother.

"Oh yes; and I assume you'll properly annoy Andy for the rest of us, won't you?" Sirius said, also looking at his brother.

"Of course, what kind of Marauder would I be if I didn't prank somebody; the students are out-of-bounds and the other professors wouldn't take to kindly to the pranks, but I expect to be in an all out Prank War with Andy by the time Halloween comes 'round.

"Good, good. If you need any tips, just call the helpline." Remus said.

"Will do; now then, what were you all watching before we came in?" Regulus asked.

They turned back to the TV and continued watching the movie. They passed the rest of the afternoon in peace.

The next two weeks seemed to fly by for everyone. The day came, though, when Regulus and Holly had to leave for Hogwarts. They did so with some joking, laughing and some long good-byes. They apparated to Hogwarts and went to Dumbledore's office to find out their quarters so they could get settled in.

**-James' POV-**

After Regulus and Holly left, not too much changed. They would firecall each other every other day or so to keep in touch. Everyone went about their business as usual. At work at the Auror Office, a lot had been going on. Everyone had started calling Moody 'Mad-Eye', for one thing.

One morning in mid-October, James walked into the kitchen and saw Lily waiting on her breakfast.

"Morning love, how are you?" he inquired.

"Morning, I'm good. How are you?"

"I'm fine. Work today ought to be interesting. We've got that case to start on; I can't wait to get started. I wonder who's going to be our project leader; we generally have Mad-Eye."

"Oh, I'm sure it doesn't matter who we've got…" Lily suddenly stopped talking and put her hand to her mouth. She got up and ran. James had gotten up to follow her and found her bent over the toilet throwing up. He went and pulled her hair back behind her head. When she was done, he grabbed a wash cloth and wet it with cold water for her forehead.

"What's this then? Are you getting sick love?" he questioned his wife.

"I don't know. I threw-up yesterday morning as well, but then I felt fine so I shrugged it off. Maybe I have a cold. I'll be fine though; I feel better already. We'd better get going or we'll be late for work." Lily attempted getting up, but James held her down where she was.

"Oh, no you don't; you're not going to work if you're sick. You're going to stay home and when I get back this afternoon I'm taking you to a healer. And don't bother arguing because it will get you nowhere." James said, cutting off Lily's attempt at an argument. "I'll tell Mad-Eye your ill and he'll just have to deal with it. Now then, up you go. I'll get you settled into bed before I leave."

James began to help Lily up. Once she was standing, he walked with her up the stairs. When they got to the third floor, they heard noises so they paused. It seemed Lily wasn't the only one who was sick. Frank came out of the bedroom a few moments later.

"Why haven't you guys left yet; you're going to be late."

"Lily's sick so I'm getting her settled in upstairs before I go. I'm taking her to St. Mungo's after work."

"Really, Alice is sick as well. Maybe they caught colds or something. I've got Alice settled in already; I'll tell Mad-Eye where you are. We'll be joining you at the hospital later, by the way."

Frank began walking down the stairs to get a quick breakfast before apparating to work.

"That's odd, Alice being sick as well. I hope Rose is all right. She was looking under the weather yesterday morning. I guess we'll find out shortly, won't we?" Lily said, heading for the stairs.

When they got to the fifth floor, James went over and knocked on Sirius and Rose's bedroom door. He was told to come in by an irritated sounding Sirius. When James entered, he saw Rose lying down and Sirius running about frantically looking for something.

"Padfoot, you look like a chicken with its head cut off. What's up?"

"Rose is ill and I can't find any of the potions we usually keep stocked for nausea."

"What's in the water; I mean really. Lily and Alice are both sick as well. I can't stay long; Lily's waiting by the steps for me. We're all heading to the hospital this evening after work; care to join us and find out what this mysterious bug is?"

"Sure. Rose, I'm sorry but I can't find the potion and I've got to go."

"That's all right dear; I'm feeling much better anyhow. Go to work and I'll see you later." Sirius went over and kissed Rose on the cheek before heading down the stairs as well.

James went back out to the hall to see Lily sitting on the last set of stairs. "Are you all right Lily?" James asked.

"I just got a little tired. Come here would you." He walked over and she took his hand for some balance. They walked up the last set of stairs and he got her settled in their bed. He kissed her good-bye before apparating away. He got to work and went over to talk to the others.

"What's the deal with them being sick all at once?" James asked his friends. "I mean, if it is the flu, wouldn't we all have it?"

"Good question mate, but I don't know. Anyway, since the girls are gone Mad-Eye assigned us to work on the case with you. Your dad's the group leader. It shouldn't take us to long to do and then we can go home to take care of the girls," Sirius said.

They went and found James' dad and when he inquired as to the girls' whereabouts he was informed of what had gone on that morning. He just smiled and told them to get their gear ready for the task at hand. James was intrigued by his fathers smile. He wondered what his father knew that he didn't, but got to work as he was instructed.

When they had finished their task, they were sent home. They all apparated to the house and walked in to see the girls watching soap operas in the living room.

"It's all that's on during the day." Lily said to the comment about what was on. They were all ready so they went back outside to apparate; the guys insisted upon side-along apparating their wives so they wouldn't get to tired. They had left a note on the table for Remus and Rina who weren't home yet. They got to St. Mungo's and asked the woman at the front desk where to go. She instructed them towards the first floor. James asked if she was sure when he saw that that was the Creature Induced Injury ward, but she assured him that was where they needed to go.

They went up and the guys were put into a waiting room while the girls were taken to separate rooms. Some nurses came to take each of them to their wives about ten minutes later. James followed the nurse to see what was wrong with Lily; the damn nurse wouldn't say, she only smiled at him.

James walked into the room and saw Lily sitting on a bed smiling as well with a healer standing over her. The healer stopped talking and turned to James when he entered.

"Well, Mrs. Potter, do you want to tell him or shall I?" the healer asked Lily.

"I'd like to." Lily turned her now solemn face upon James once again. "James, there are going to be some big changes around the house. I'm not allowed to have alcohol for the next nine months, I'll have to stop work in four months, and I'm going to gain a lot of weight."

James began to smile. He knew what this meant and he was ecstatic. He walked over to Lily and hugged her tightly. He pulled back, kissed her forehead and then looked to her for confirmation.

"James, you're going to be a father." She smiled at him again and he returned the look with an amount of happiness that could only be rivaled by the day he'd married Lily.

"This is wonderful! Is it a boy or a girl? It doesn't matter, in any case. As long as it's healthy and it can play quidditch and it's smart like you, nothing matters."

"It's a boy, James, a healthy baby boy. He's due in mid-July."

"A boy; excellent. He'll be wonderful. I can't wait to tell everyone. They're not going to believe this!"

"Oh, I have a feeling they will. James, darling, put two and two together; Alice and Rose were having the same problems and they were sent to the same place. I get the feeling that our house is going to be rather noisy in nine months."

James paused for a moment then grinned. He thought about how wonderful it would be having three children in the house at the same time; noisy, but wonderful.

**-Sirius' POV-**

Sirius followed the nurse to Rose's room. He went in and saw her talking to the doctor. When she saw him, she gave a faint smile then her face turned serious.

"What is it?" he asked, slightly worried by his wife's behavior. She usually tried to put a positive spin on everything.

"Oh, nothing bad; it's actually a wonderful thing. Sirius, you're going to be a father; twice over."

"What? What does twice over mean?"

"It means that we're having twins, dear. A boy and a girl; they're due in June." A grin now adorned her face, and Sirius quickly joined in. He went over to her and kissed her passionately. "You know what this means? You'll have to find a new drinking buddy for a while; maybe James, I get the feeling he'll be on the market for one as well."

Sirius chuckled. It all made sense now. He wasn't going to be the only father in the house.

"I can't wait to tell the others. Twins! This is great. The Marauders shall take over Hogwarts once again through a second generation! McGonagall will be depressed for days when she finds out about the four young ones joining her ranks in eleven years."

Rose laughed at that; Sirius was glad that he could make her laugh. He was thrilled at the prospect of fatherhood. He was looking forward to the day his children would be born. He chuckled again when he thought back to the name of the ward; 'Creature Induced Injuries'. That was a hilarious bit of wording, that was.

**-Frank's POV-**

Frank had had his suspicions about what could be going on this morning; he didn't want to get his hopes up though, just in case it was the flu or something. He and Alice had talked about wanting children a while ago and a month or so ago they had decided that they wanted to try and have children. Frank felt overjoyed at the prospect of it happening so soon.

As he followed the nurse to the room, he smiled at the thought of children running about the house. When the door opened, Alice smiled at him and he was filled with elation. He ran over to her and held her in his arms for a while. When he remembered where they were and that they could celebrate later, he turned and looked at the healer for information about the pregnancy.

He was bursting with joy at the prospect of becoming a father. He loved Alice with all his heart and he wouldn't want to do this with anyone else. They would probably tell the others soon, as they were trying for this they wanted to share it with the world.

**-Regulus' POV-**

It was now Halloween and Regulus and Holly were going back to the mansion for a Halloween Party. They flooed in through the kitchen and were greeted by some members of the Order who had also come. He went and sought out his brother first; besides, Sirius would probably be with the others anyway. He found them all sitting in the living room chatting with a few Order members. He noticed that Lily, Alice and Rose were drinking Pumpkin Juice and all the others were drinking at least butterbeer. He walked over and gave Sirius a quick hug.

"How've you been?" Regulus asked Sirius.

"Absolutely splendid, yourself?"

"Couldn't be better." He decided he'd better be a little quiet about the last part, so he whispered into Sirius' ear, "is there a reason that those three," he gestured to Lily, Rose and Alice, "are drinking pumpkin juice and not something stronger?"

"Yes, why don't you ask them though; they've been dying to tell you."

Regulus turned to the three women and gestured towards their glasses. They glanced at each other then nodded. All at once, they said, "We're pregnant."

He smiled and walked over to them, giving them each a hug. "When are they due? What are they going to be? And have you chosen names yet? Congratulations, by the way."

"A boy in July," Lily said.

"Same," said Alice.

"A boy and a girl in June," said Rose.

"Twins? That's fantastic! I'm going to be an uncle. Just think a niece and a nephew in my class someday. That ought to be fun." He smiled and gave each of them another hug before going around and clapping each father-to-be on the back. "You lot must be excited."

"Of course we are. Remus here has been trying his damnedest to get Rina pregnant." Remus blushed furiously when James said this causing all the guys to chuckle; Remus was bout to say something when James continued. "Oh Remus, did you think this house had an ounce of privacy, what with eight people living here? It's nothing to be embarrassed of." Remus, on the other hand, appeared to think it was something to be embarrassed about.

"So, James, how'd your parents take the news? They smother you with congratulations?" Regulus said, smoothly changing the topic.

"We haven't officially told them yet; I mean, my dad had his suspicions when he heard Lily had morning sickness, but we haven't told them definitely yet. We were planning on doing so tonight, making an announcement about all three at once. We're quite curious to see McGonagall's reaction. We've started betting on what she'll do. I say she's going to look at us trying to figure out when somebody's going to say 'April Fools'."

"I think she's going to make some sarcastic comment about the downfall of the reputation of her Gryffindors," Frank put in.

"No, no, no, she's going to get up and walk away, muttering under her breath about how the brewers of Headache Potions will be seeing a lot of her for years to come." That was Remus' opinion.

"I still say she's going to stare at us confusedly for a moment before swooning, then when she comes round she's going to be muttering about 'I thought I'd got rid of them, they were all gone and only one came back, what happened to my peaceful world'." Sirius said, miming McGonagall's voice perfectly on the last part.

"Well, I say," began Regulus, "that she's not going to do any of that. She's going to turn to Lily, Rose and Alice and say something along the lines of 'I hope to Merlin that your influence over your children is stronger than that of your husbands' and then she'll glare at you all as though you've done something terribly wrong and her mouth will thin to a slit. What's the bet, anyway?"

"Whoever guesses her reaction most accurately will be given a cask of firewhisky, paid for by the others of course." James responded, grinning devilishly.

"That sounds reasonable; I'm in." Regulus said, checking to make sure he had enough money to go fourths on a cask of liquor. "Where's Peter at?"

"He's with Claudia. I swear, he spends more and more time with her. Pretty soon we'll be reduced to getting a Christmas card if we're lucky. I suppose it's just him moving on with life, but I hate to see him going a separate way from us. We've known him forever and a day." Remus replied, sounding slightly saddened by Peter's absence.

"Cheer up mate; we get to see McGonagall's reaction soon. It's almost time for dinner; let's go tell everyone to make their way to the dining hall in about five minutes." Frank tried to get Remus' mind off of their absent friend.

They all got up and went to the dining hall, informing those they saw on the way that they should follow and inform the others that dinner was ready. Everyone was finally sat down at the table ten minutes later.

"Alright, before dinner is served, we have some announcements," James said, standing up. He was joined by the other five this pertained to and then continues. "The six of us have recently been informed of spectacular events to come. I'll start with mine and Lily's announcement. Lily is pregnant." Everyone smiled and said quick congratulations. McGonagall, who had just taken a drink of water, spluttered slightly.

"Now, Frank and I also have some news to share. I'm also pregnant, due about the same time as Lily." More clapping and congratulations greeted that announcement. McGonagall was now pinching her nose.

"And…" Sirius began, but was cut off by McGonagall.

"Oh Merlin, not you two as well; you two are sure to procreate a troublemaker."

"Close, Lady McGonagall, very close. However, you are off by just a little bit. We're having twins!" Everyone laughed at that and offered their congratulations to Sirius and Rose. McGonagall began swaying slightly in her chair.

"Good Merlin, I thought I'd rid myself of troublemakers. Lily, Rose, Alice, I hope your prepared to teach these children how to behave better than their fathers. I'll need a keg of headache potion if they're anything like their fathers. Merlin help us."

The guys looked at each other and Sirius shrugged saying, "I guess that means we all pay for it and all drink it. Works for me."

They then ate a wonderful dinner followed by Mrs. Weasleys bread pudding and treacle tart for dessert. Once they were done eating, people went down to the game room to chat and occupy themselves. Regulus got a chance to talk to some of the other people there at this time. He had short conversations with many people; the Weasleys, Mad-Eye (the name had spread beyond the Ministry now), Mr. and Mrs. Potter, Mrs. Longbottom, Andy and Ted, Mr. and Mrs. Stone, and some of Rina's brothers. It was an eventful night, all in all. What with the announcements and the games and the conversation, the party was still in full swing way into the wee hours of the morning. The teachers from Hogwarts were coming and going; they were taking shifts at the castle watching over the feast. Dumbledore came for a spell at around 10:00, thoroughly beating James at a game of pool, before leaving again to check on the castle. When the party finally did end, at five in the morning, everything was left as it was to be cleaned up another time. Regulus and Holly said their good-byes and left for Hogwarts and a few hours sleep before the day would begin.

**-Remus' POV-**

It was late November when Remus received the news of his own impending fatherhood. He was overjoyed, but he had some very real fears. He was afraid that his children would be werewolves, but he didn't know for sure. He had to find out though; his mind wouldn't let him be until he had. So, that's why Remus found himself flooing to Dumbledore's office one Saturday afternoon. He stepped through the flames and saw Dumbledore drinking some tea at his desk.

"Hello Remus," Dumbledore greeted without looking up. "What can I do for you?"

"Sir, I've got something on my mind and I was hoping you could answer some questions for me."

"Oh yes, and what might those be? I don't pretend to be omniscient, but I shall try my best to be of assistance."

"Well sir, we recently found out that Rina's pregnant and…"

"And you were wondering if your children would have lycanthropy like you? Yes, yes, I thought you might come in asking such a question soon. As far as I know, Remus, lycanthropy is not hereditary. I've studied some muggle sciences and the lycanthropy cell is what they would call a recessive gene; meaning that the dominant gene, the one not bearing lycanthropy, will overpower it and the children will not be werewolves. That will also be true of your grandchildren, should you have any. Is that all, Remus?"

"Yes sir, for now. Thank you for putting my mind at ease. I think I'll go and chat with Regulus for a while."

Remus walked down to the Potions room in the dungeons. When he got to the classroom, he saw it was deserted; _no surprise there, _he thought,_ it's a Saturday._ He kept walking until he got to the office, which was also empty. He went to the next door, a private chamber meant for the brewing of more dangerous potions by the professor out of the students' way. He found Regulus there, working on what appeared to be a very strong love potion; Ammortentia.

"What, has Holly started to doubt your relationship so much that you need a love potion?" Remus asked when Regulus stopped to consult a book.

"Oh yes, how do you think I got her to go out with me in the first place," Regulus replied with a smirk on his face. "No, it's for my seventh years; they're starting on powerful potions that affect peoples' wills. They've already seen a potion that replicates the _Imperius_, but it's time for them to learn what obsessive love can do to a mind."

"I remember that lesson. Slughorn was serious for the first time about how obsessive love is now way to live, for either party."

"Yes, I'm going to do something similar with the introduction. I've not got many in my N.E.W.T. class, but those that did make it are excellent students; nearly as good as Lily, one of them. But anyway, what did you come for? Not that I'm not glad for the company."

"I had some questions to ask Dumbledore. Rina's pregnant and I wanted to make sure that lycanthropy isn't hereditary."

"Congratulations; I assume you found out that it wasn't, otherwise you'd be frantic with worry. So then, when's the little Lupin going to be joining us?"

"August; I can't wait. This is weird, all of us getting married and having kids. It's almost like we're growing up."

"Oh no, not growing up, anything but that," Regulus gave a dramatic sigh and added an ingredient to his potion.

"How're Holly and Andy?"

"Holly's well. She enjoys the job a lot; she likes to mock the different injuries with me when she gets back. Maybe if you stay long enough, you'll get to here her recap some fretful story about just how they came to be injured. Andy's fine; like I said, we're at war. She's gotten me a couple times, but I always get her back. Just yesterday she put a charm on me that put me in and Opera costume and another that made it so I could only talk in song. It was quite amusing, really; my students got a kick out of it at any rate. I'm planning on a similar wardrobe malfunction Monday at breakfast. Something along the lines of inappropriate school attire, shall we say. Ted and Tonks are well; Ted has quit his job because he can't get there to easily so he spends his days taking care of Tonks. I think he's learning to appreciate why Andy was so anxious to get some grown-up conversation."

"Well, I would to. Talking to a six-year-old all day would get rather boring. Especially when there's only one; if there's two or more, they tend to entertain each other."

Holly walked in then, with a smile on her face.

"Hello Regulus, Remus. Regulus, I've got a good one. Jones, sixth year fellow; he's rather tall, Gryffindor; he was hit with a boil curse on his privates," both men flinched at that, causing Holly to laugh. "He says it was some Slytherin trying to faze him for the upcoming match. He really didn't want me to try and heal it; he even asked if I'd just teach him the spell so he could do it himself. Very shy that one. I eventually coaxed him into letting me do my job. When he had dropped his drawers, his girlfriend walked in and demanded she be told what was happening. He pulled his pants back up and started running out, shouting back that he'd just let them heal on their own. His girlfriend chased after him, still trying to find out what was happening. She finally managed to get him back in an hour later; he was blushing such a shade of red, I just can't describe it. Anyway, that was the highlight of my day. How about you; how was your day?"

"Well enough; I've just been brewing some Ammortentia for the seventh years."

"Just as long as you don't use any; and, Remus, to what do we owe this pleasure?"

"I was just talking to Dumbledore about something. By the way, Rina's due in August. A boy, the healer said."

"That's wonderful, give her my regards; the others as well. How're the other three getting along with their first month? Puking themselves silly every morning?"

"Yes, James and Sirius keep trying to convince them to just take off the whole pregnancy and stay at home, but to no avail. Frank realized after the first try it was pointless; he's given up arguing with Alice over it. They're doing well though. Looking forward to the summer; you two will be coming back during the winter break, right?"

"Yes; Poppy had agreed to come to the school for the entire break and since Regulus doesn't have any classes, you can count on us for the whole time."

"Wonderful, I'll tell the others. I'd best be going; I'll see you guys in a couple weeks or so. 'Bye." Remus then went to Regulus' office and flooed from there back to the kitchen where he was greeted by Tinker and Dabble. He sat down and had some tea, thinking on just how happy he was that his son wouldn't be a werewolf as well.

**-Regulus' POV-**

It was a few days before Christmas and Regulus and Holly had returned from Hogwarts. They had the next three weeks off of work; however, everyone else only had a few days off work. Regulus and Holly were just going to hang out and do stuff together while everyone else was at work. They wouldn't have to much time alone though. Remus and Rina worked from 3:00 in the afternoon until 11:00. Lily, James, Sirius, Rose, Frank and Alice worked from 8:00 in the morning until 4:00. Peter was also on a night shift in the Auror department so he wasn't seen much by any of their group.

When Regulus and Holly walked through the fireplace in the sitting room, they were greeted by silence. It was mid-day on a Monday, so most of their friends would still be at work. Remus and Rina should be home though, so Holly and Regulus split up to see if they could find them anywhere. As it turned out, they were still asleep. Regulus was about to wake them up when Holly stopped him; she told him to just let them sleep.

They went back downstairs and into the kitchen for some lunch. Tinker made them some sandwiches and they began eating. By the time they were done, Remus had walked into the kitchen yawning.

"What're you doing home so early Sirius? I thought you worked until four. What, did you piss Mad-Eye off again?"

"Yeah, he got rather upset when I suddenly changed into my brother so he sent me home." Regulus answered. Remus spun around and paused in mid-yawn and did a double-take.

"Sorry Regulus, you look a lot like Sirius with your hair growing out like it is; besides, all I saw was your back and I'm still half-asleep. We had a long night. Just as we were about to leave, a case came in that they needed our help on so we stayed. We didn't get home until 3:00. They gave us today off as 'recompense'."

"Sucks to be you, doesn't it. Hey, I've been wondering, what do you do on the nights of the full-moon?"

"I work during the day then go home before the sun sets to take my potion. Since we have all this space now, I can run around in the back yard with the others. You should join us; there's a full moon day after Christmas. We have off work that day so we don't have to deal with rushing about to get back in time."

"Great. That sounds like fun."

"Oh yeah, great fun," Remus said sarcastically.

"You know what I mean, Remus."

"Whatever. So, Holly, what interesting cases have entered your ward since I was last there?"

Holly went on to describe some of the funnier cases. Remus burst out laughing when he was told about how a Gryffindor had jinxed a Slytherin to talk like a valley-girl for a week and how Holly couldn't get the charm off, it could only be removed by it's caster, and the kid wouldn't be bothered to remove I until he was satisfied the Slytherin had learned their lesson. They chatted for a while and Rina eventually joined them. They talked about their jobs, what was going on with the others, and all sorts of things.

They quickly lost track of time, so they were very surprised when their Auror friends walked through the door and greeted them. After dinner, they watched a movie and played some cards until they all had to go to bed.

**-Sirius' POV-**

"It's Christmas! Wake up you lazy bums, wake up!" Sirius was running around the house waking everyone up from their peaceful slumber. He went to each bedroom door and pounded on it and yelled until he received some sign that the inhibitors were awake. When he got up to Lily and James' door, he pounded and yelled but to no avail. He tried to open the door, but it was locked so he tried an _Alohamora_. When that didn't work he started knocking and shouting again. After about twenty minutes of this, Sirius decided to bring in the back-up. He went and got Regulus, Remus and Frank who were all angry with him for waking them up so rudely.

"Oh get over it. It's not like you never get to sleep. Now then, I can't get Lily and James up; they've locked their door and they're not responding to the racket. Here's what we do…"

"We let them sleep as they so obviously want to. Just like we wanted to but were stopped from doing by you, you moron," Regulus glared at his brother.

"Come on, you know the rules. The last Marauder up on Christmas gets pranked."

"He's only the last one up because he was smart enough to use spells to defend his bedroom against you. We should have done the same." Frank sounded miffed with the cause of his early consciousness.

"Come on now, we can't change tradition now. I seem to remember Sirius being the one pranked last year; that's why he got up so early, he didn't want to be the one we awoke. I say a carefully placed bucket of ice water would do fine. Let's get it over with so Sirius will let us get our coffee." Remus added his bit, trying to keep the peace between the different sides with logic.

"Fine, but if he does this next year to, he's going to find himself in the pool," Regulus threatened.

The four made their way to the door only to have it opened by Lily before they could get to it.

"Morning you guys. What's with the devious look on Sirius' face?"

"Why'd you guys use spells on your room?"

"We're not stupid, that's why. James and I knew you'd be the one up early this year after what happened last year. We also knew that you would try to wake everyone up with you, so we put on a silencing spell around the whole room. The locking charms were because of the inevitable break-in; we wanted our peace and quiet. You three," she gestured to Remus, Regulus and Frank, "would do well to remember that next year." She walked away after closing and locking the door again.

She went to the stairs and walked down, shortly followed by the guys who had given up on waking James.

**-Lily's POV-**

James came down a half-hour after Lily had. Once he was down there with some coffee and a donut, they moved to the living room to open gifts. They spent the morning in the sitting room chatting, eating, opening presents and watching TV. When lunch time came, the guys ate quickly. When they were done, they went outside for a snowball war. Holly joined in to make an even number. They split into teams of two and began enchanting snowballs to chase their targets and throwing them at each other.

After the war, which Sirius and James won, they went in and had some hot chocolate. They spent the afternoon preparing for the Christmas party they were going to be having for the Order and their other friends and family. Around six, people started apparating and flooing in.

The party was wonderful! The house was full of people celebrating the holidays. Everyone form the order was there along with some of their parents and friends from work. Some of the Hogwarts staff was there as well. They found out that Molly Weasley was pregnant and due in March; apparently they hadn't wanted to share it with everyone like the younger couples had. There were children there as well; though not to many. The Weasley children; Bill (8), Charlie (6), Percy (3) and Fred and George (8 months); were there, as was Andy's daughter; Nymphadora, a.k.a. Tonks, (6).

Lily walked over to talk with Andy and Dumbledore. They were talking about something so Lily just stood to the right of Andy and waited.

"She's been waking up with different eye and hair colors, Albus. I know that can't be normal; do you know of anything that could be causing this, Holly says she's perfectly healthy. I don't know what to do. Today she woke up with red hair and green eyes and she seemed to be a lot taller."

"Do you know what a Metamorphmagus is?" Andy shook her head. "It's a rare type of witch or wizard who can change their appearance at will. I believe that that is what young Nymphadora is. She hasn't gained control of the ability yet, so she changes with her mood. This morning she woke up excited for Christmas, so my best guess is that until she learns how to control it she'll keep changing with her stronger emotions. I would suggest finding some books on the matter so that you can help her hone the ability."

"Thanks Albus. It's just so strange to see her walking all over the place but with different features than she was born with."

"That's completely understandably, my dear."

"Andy," they both turned when Lily spoke up. "I couldn't help but overhear. I think there are some books on Metamorphmagi in our library. I ran across them while I was looking for something else one day. I'll show you where they are later on."

"Thanks Lily. That would be a big help. Can we go take a look now?" When Lily nodded, they began walking to the library. On the way, Andy grabbed Tonks to bring her with. Tonks got very upset, which was obvious by the way her hair changed from red to black and her eyes from wide and green to grey slits. Andy didn't take any notice, though; she just kept walking determinedly towards the library. "Nymphadora, I want you to sit there and mind your manners. Aunt Lily is going to show us some books on how you're changing your appearance." Tonks huffed and sat back in her chair and glared at her mother.

"I was playing tag with Bill and Charlie. I was winning, too. Why'd you have to drag me here so that you could look in some stupid books? And why do you insist upon calling me Nymphadora? I _hate_ that name."

"Because, that's your name and there's nothing wrong with it. I want you to learn to control this ability, so you'll pay attention to what's going on. You got that?"

"Fine. But as soon as we're done I'm going to play with Bill and Charlie again."

"Fine."

Lily watched all of this with great amusement. She almost laughed when Tonks complained about her name.

"Find it amusing, do you? I used to as well. You just wait, pretty soon you'll have your own to deal with; you won't be laughing quite so much when the day comes where you have to tell them to stop doing something that you used to love doing. It's no fun; I feel like a hypocrite whenever I tell her not to do something." She whispered this last bit, not wanting Tonks to overhear; "most of the time, I just want to let her keep doing whatever it is but then my instincts kick in and I start telling her off. It sucks being the adult."

Lily chuckled some more then brought Andy to the spot where the books she'd found were. They took the three books down off of the shelves and started to skim through them. They found some techniques to teach children with the ability. They spent a few minutes just looking, and then decided to get back to the party. Andy shrunk the books and put them in her pocket.

"Alright Nymphadora, you can go back to play now." As soon as she heard this, Tonks' hair changed to a bright shade of pink and her eyes became blue and wide once again. "Oh, for the love of Merlin; it's going to take her forever to learn how to control this. We'll have to start the second we get home, if she's to have any kind of control by the time she goes to Hogwarts."

"Oh, she'll catch on quick enough I'm sure. If she's still having trouble though, she can come to Camp Lily during the day once I have off. They're making me stop working after four months; so in mid-February Rose, Alice and I will have a lot of free time. Rina doesn't have to leave until her sixth month because she's not in danger as much on her job, mostly deals with muggles. We could work with her on it. Ted could come by as well; keep track of her once we get to big to move." Andy chuckled at that.

"That'd be great, Lily. Thanks for the books too, I'll read them and send them back with Ted on the first day at Camp Lily. You know, I think you're going to be a great mum. Kids just seem to like you; you're so lucky. Your kid probably won't scream 'till all hours of the night."

"Gosh I hope not. I know that's part of it, but I happen to enjoy sleeping." They were back in the living room now, still chatting about motherhood. "I can't believe that in a couple months time, I'll be done working for eleven years. I can't imagine going to work and missing anything, so that's already been decided. I've offered to watch the other children as well, after the first few months of course, but Rose, Alice and Rina want to be there as well."

"I know how you feel. It was weird for the first few weeks of maternity leave, not going into work every day, but you get used to it before the baby's even born. And then, when the baby is born, it's like a full time job that you don't get paid for. But it's worth it. I'm going to find Ted and talk with him about this whole Metamorphosing thing. I'll see you later, alright?"

"Yeah, good luck with the books."

Andy walked away to find Ted and tell him about the new developments. Lily walked around and chatted with people she knew from various places. The party went on late into the night, but not as late as at Halloween. When everyone was gone, the inhibitors of the house all went to bed for a good nights rest.

**-Alice's POV-**

It was now New Year's Day. They had stayed up all night and were now sleeping off the effects from their rather long day. They had to recuperate though, and soon; Regulus and Holly's wedding was in two days! They were getting married here at the house, but they still had tons to do. Tomorrow they were having their separate parties for Holly and Regulus. Alice woke up and found herself on the couch with Frank. They had fallen asleep in the living room, it seemed; too tired to go up to their room.

She lifted Frank's head off her shoulder gently so she could get up without waking him. She got off the couch, but stepped carefully as other people had fallen asleep in the living room as well. Lily and James were on the other couch, Sirius was asleep in an armchair with Rose curled up in his lap, Remus and Rina were asleep in armchairs next to each other, and holly and Regulus were asleep on the floor. She walked into the kitchen and had some orange juice while she waited for Tinker to make her breakfast.

Tinker came out with breakfast for everyone; eggs, bacon, toast, oatmeal and sausage. She put some heating charms on the food so that it'd stay hot until everyone had woken up. Alice began eating while she thought about various things. She had decided to stay home and raise her and Frank's son instead of going back to work. She hoped Frank would choose to take some time off as well; they had more than enough money to be getting on with, they could afford a break.

She knew that the others were thinking the same thing; Lily wanted James at home, Rina wanted Remus to stay, and Rose wanted Sirius to help her out. But the guys just weren't catching the hints, or if they were they were doing a good job of disguising their understanding. They all wanted their husbands to be a part of the children's lives instead of being told about it over dinner.

The others started waking up and coming in to eat. Once breakfast was over, they went out to the garden to start clearing it of snow with heating charms. They were going to have the ceremony outdoors, so they had to be prepared. They would clear out the snow and put glamours of plants and flowers where they would be if it were spring. During the ceremony, they would have warming charms around the entire garden and if it was snowing they planned on putting a clear, temporary ceiling over the hedges.

They finished the clearing out and decorating by mid afternoon, taking a break for lunch around noon. When they were done, they all had a snowball fight on the quidditch pitch that lasted a couple hours. Alice noticed that every time a snowball came towards Lily, James would jump in front of it so she wouldn't get hit. The first time she saw this, she started laughing; after the second, she used it against him and started chucking snowballs towards Lily so James would jump in front of them. Lily had sat down by now and was laughing her arse off at James taking all the hits; everyone had caught on by now and they were also throwing the snowballs so James would jump in front of them.

They went in and had some cocoa in the sitting room by the fireplace. There were other fireplaces, but this one was still decorated for Christmas and it was the largest; thus giving off the most heat. They talked and after a while it was time for dinner. They ate in the kitchen then went to watch a movie; _The Grinch That Stole Christmas_. Sirius, James, Remus, Regulus and Frank sang along to the songs, as they had watched it before they knew the lyrics and enjoyed them.

Alice began to think about Peter. He hadn't been to visit much lately and every time they aw him at work he had some reason to be elsewhere. The only time they really saw him was at Order meetings, and he didn't stay once they were done. She was curious about the sudden change, but she guessed that he was moving on; sad as that might be, the splitting up of friends, it had to happen sometime.

**-Peter's POV-**

Peter had slowly been separating himself from his friends, if one could even call them that anymore. He stopped going to their house as often, brushed them off at work and didn't stick around at Order meetings. He was spending most of his time with Claudia now; he loved her greatly.

She had made the observation that his friends didn't really like him and that he shouldn't spend so much time with them, so he had begun distancing himself. He had almost no contact with them now, and he was surprisingly happy. He didn't miss their company all that much; well, not all the time. When he did, he'd talk to Claudia and she would reassure him that he'd made the right choice.

It was the fifth of January and he decided that he would write two letters today. One to his old friends and one to Dumbledore; he went to his desk and began composing the letters after telling Claudia of his plan.

_Dumbledore,_

_I have a request to make. I would like to withdraw myself from the Order. I have decided I do not wish to be in unnecessary danger from something I'm not positive about. I understand if you need to modify my memory or have me take an oath of some sort; I am willing to do so. I'm sorry if I'm letting you down, but I can't do this anymore. _

_My decision is final; I will not be persuaded otherwise. Please let me know when we can meet and take care of this bit of business. _

_I thank you for your time and effort._

_Sincerely,_

Peter Pettigrew

Now that that was done, Peter sent it off with Claudia's owl so that he could send the other with his. This was going to be a little more difficult to write; how did one break off an eight year friendship? He would have to word it very carefully.

_To: Marauders and their wives_

_Guys, I know this is going to sound strange; well, maybe not. I can't continue our friendship. _

_Claudia has shown me that I mean nothing to you all, and I must say that, looking back, I agree. I never had any importance with you. I have asked Dumbledore to remove me from the Order as well, so this shall be the last contact between us._

_I wish you to know that, though I'm ending our friendship, I do still have fond memories of past times and hope you will as well. Much has happened since we left school and I've realized it's time for another. _

_I wish you all well; but be warned, any attempt at contact will be ignored._

_I'm sorry to part ways in a letter, but this is the best way I could think of. Also know that I am not under any spells or curses or the influence of potions; this is of my own will and desire._

_Your Old Friend,_

Peter Pettigrew

(Wormtail, no more)

Peter sealed the envelope and tied it to his owl's leg and sent it off to his once good friends. He went and sat down on the couch in his living room. He thought about what he'd just done and was glad that he'd done it; very glad indeed.

**_A/N: What will the Marauders reaction be? What will happen with their jobs? I guess you'll just have to read the next chapter to find out, won't you. I thought about continuing the chapter to include a recap of the wedding and the receiving of the letters, but then I thought I'd just put those in with the next chapter because thirty pages is long enough. Hope you liked it. When I was referring to the song in _The Grinch_ I meant the one _you're a mean one, mister Grinch;_ that one. My dad and sister get back today, so I won't have as much time to write. The next chapter should be out in a few days, I already know what I want to happen. It shouldn't be as long as this one, but you never know. I wanted Peter gone from the story, at least temporarily. He might make an appearance in the later years, but for now he's history. Reviews are welcome as always._**


	11. The Second Generation of Marauders

**_A/N: Long chapter. Just thought I'd warn you. Its 43 pages, but well worth the time if you ask me. I think the song fits, but if anyone has another suggestion let me know and I'll consider it. Enjoy!_**

**Chapter 10: The Second Generation of Marauders**

_Song: Carry On Wayward Son_

_By: Kansas_

**-Sirius' POV-**

_3rd June, 1980_

_Sirius and Regulus:_

_I need to speak to the both of you immediately. Floo to my office as soon as you receive this letter; it is of the utmost urgency._

_Albus Dumbledore_

After Sirius had read the letter, more of a note really, he gave it to his brother, who was visiting for the weekend, to read. Once he had finished it as well, they went to the fireplace with a quick shout through the house at large that they'd be back later. They took some floo powder and yelled out 'Hogwarts; Headmasters Office' before being engulfed in the flames and appearing in Dumbledore's office. He appeared distraught at best.

"Hello Albus. What's the emergency?" Regulus asked while dusting himself off.

"You both should sit down." They did as asked and noted something must be terribly wrong as Dumbledore hadn't offered them a lemon drop as he usually did. He continued on though, grimacing slightly as he noticed their concerned glances. "I have been informed that your mother has passed away this morning." That got no reaction from the brothers other than a quick glance at one another. "It seems that she had a heart attack whilst asleep. I'm terribly sorry for your loss." He paused for a moment, but seeing they weren't wrought with grief as most would be, he continued. "The reason I need to speak with you is this. If one of you does not inherit the Black fortunes, this includes all the housing and money, then it will _all_ go to your cousin; Bellatrix Lestrange. We cannot let that happen; the money would be put to funding Death Eater activity and the estates would go to housing the Death Eaters."

"What are you proposing, Albus? We've both been disowned; as has Andromeda otherwise she would be next in line. We cannot legally protest a thing to do with the inheritance of this money; we would be laughed at by the ministry." Sirius said this with a hint of malice in his voice at the thought of having to go to the ministry asking for his family's money and homes.

"Actually, either of you could protest. You see, when your mother blew your names off of the tapestry she became distraught; first at her eldest son disobeying her and then at her only other child following the first. She was in such a state that she forgot to fill the forms for a legal disownment. You are still technically the heir, Sirius. However, your cousin Andromeda wouldn't be able to protest as her mother disowned her with all due haste in ever possible way." Dumbledore informed them of this, thoroughly shocking both of them. "You see, while blowing you off of your family tree has its own meaning within the family, those laws do not apply to the greater wizarding world. You can and must protest the handing over of the fortunes to your cousin."

"But, what if we don't want any of it? What will we do with houses we hate and so forth? It's just not plausible to take any of it." Regulus pointed out with a hint of discomfort in his voice, face and posture.

"It matters not what you do with the fortune once you have it, so long as Bellatrix is not in ownership of any of it."

"So, we could just get rid of everything once we'd won it? The ministry can't object to that?" Sirius asked.

"That is correct. You can do whatever you wish with the property once you obtain it; nobody can interfere."

"Could we have a moment to talk in private, Albus?" Sirius asked.

"Of course, of course; I'll just be in the back office. Knock on the door when you've finished up." Dumbledore got up and walked to the other room leaving Sirius and Regulus to talk in solitude.

"I think we should do it," began Sirius.

"But why?" Regulus asked his brother, completely astonished.

"Think about it, Regulus. We could sell the houses and add the money to the vault. We could use that money, coming up. We both have children on the way." Holly had become pregnant a week or so after the wedding; Regulus had been heartily teased by the others for his quick action in the bedroom. "Think what we could do with the money. We could give our children the finest of everything instead of turning to James; sure he has more than enough money, enough for the next twenty generations if I'm not mistaken, but this way we could do so much more. I know that it's _that woman's_," he spat these words as if they were some disgusting vulgarism, "money, but its money all the same. Besides, if that won't win you over, think how pissed _she_ would be with the different ways we would spend the money; supporting our 'muggleborn' wives and our 'half-blooded' children. It would give me, personally, a little skip in my step to know that she would disapprove of the spending of her money."

Regulus had listened to all his brother had said. It made perfect sense to Sirius; he just hoped he could convince his brother to think the same way. Regulus looked about thoughtfully for a few moments before nodding his head slightly, as if finishing an inner-debate with himself.

"Alright, but only because it would piss _her_ off to no end. I vote we sell the properties at once and add the gold to our vault. I also think we should get some of those, what are they, credit card thingy's to use. We could get one for each of us, Holly and Rose to use. I hear they make a quick way to buy things. I was talking to Remus about them the other day. Anyway, that can come later. Let's get Dumbledore back in here and iron out the details."

Regulus got up and knocked on the door. When Dumbledore came back in he looked anxiously to each of them; Sirius noted that his characteristic twinkle had dimmed a bit. _Wow, this must be a huge deal if he's this unnerved by it_, Sirius thought to himself. They told Dumbledore of their decision and, Sirius noted, he was in a much better mood; if only a little less antsy.

Dumbledore told them they needed to go to Gringotts immediately, as that was where the transaction between holders would occur. He told them to go to their family's account manager and demand they be heard. They agreed and left for Gringotts immediately, asking Dumbledore to owl the others and inform them of the goings-on.

**-Regulus' POV-**

After a few hours spent traveling between Gringotts and the Ministry, they had accomplished their goal. They had seized control of the Black fortunes. They had also spoken to the family's account manager, a goblin named Bilford. They had discussed the credit card idea, one originating from the muggles, and had gotten cards for the four Blacks to use. The cards would be accepted anywhere and would be charged to their vault. They also discussed the sale of the properties. They decided to sell almost all of them; eleven of the twelve. The last one was a house on an island in the Caribbean that they wanted for vacations and it held no memories for either one as neither had been there. The rest would be sold and the money put into their already giant account.

Bilford had told them the exact holdings of the Black family; upon hearing the sum, more than they ever thought it to be, they both fell out of their chairs with a resounding thump. Regulus couldn't believe that the Blacks had such a fortune! They had enough money to support fifteen generations, at least! Bilford had told them, in no uncertain terms, that they had, without sale of the homes or the added in yearly interest, 350 million galleons! They were both so shocked that they took a while to be able to continue the meeting.

They had decided that, with so much money to spare, they would set up accounts for their children and for Andy and Dora, as they had settled on calling her as of late. They drew up six accounts; four of them to be for 'future Black heirs' as no names had been chose; two for the twins Sirius and Rose were expecting and two for Regulus and Holly's own expectant set of twins. They put one million galleons into each of these four accounts. The other two were set up for Andromeda Black Tonks and Nymphadora Tonks, though they warned the goblins against addressing her as Nymphadora; Bilford just grinned at the warning.

They put two million galleons into each of these; then, thinking of Andy, they decided to make Tonks' inaccessible until her seventeenth birthday when she would come of age.

Once finished with the setting up of the accounts, they left for a quick drink at the Leaky Cauldron before apparating home; they didn't want their location discovered by using the floo connection. Upon arriving home, they were bombarded with questions about what went on. They decided to wait and tell everyone over dinner.

It was now dinner time, and Regulus was not looking forward to the discussion to come; he didn't know why, he just didn't like the thought of using his parents' money and he didn't feel like discussing it.

He went down to the dining hall where the others were sitting waiting for dinner to begin. Sirius walked in right behind him, apparently having similar feelings if his face betrayed anything. They sat and began eating.

Just as everyone was finishing their first course, a salad, James' curiosity got the better of him.

"What the hell is going on? You haven't said a damn word about what's happened!"

"James, watch the language. In a couple months there will be children living here; I don't want my child's first words to be bloody hell, got it?" Lily reprimanded her husband, much to the amusement of others. The amusement only increased when James uttered his next words.

"Sorry love."

"We got a note from Dumbledore this morning, that's where we went first." Sirius then began explaining the events of the day, Regulus occasionally added his input where he saw fit. "So, we now have a ridiculous amount of money and almost nothing to use it on."

"Join the club. I have a fortune as well and no reason to spend any of it. The elves conjure our food, the clothes are as good as the day we bought them and we have a wonderful house that we didn't pay for." James said, a grin on his face as he finished the statement.

"So, anyway, we've instructed them to sell all but one house. It's in the Caribbean; we've never been there though. We could go on a trip in October, after the children have been born. We could go there for a while around Halloween or so. We can talk alone after dinner, at any rate. Let's finish our food." Regulus said all of this in almost one breath, finding that he was very excited about a vacation for the ten of them. It was just what they needed.

After they'd received the letter from Peter, they had fire-called Dumbledore to confirm the information. He had told them that Peter had in fact asked for removal from the Order. They had decided it was best to not talk about him, as they now all got angry at mention of his name. They avoided that topic very well.

**-Holly's POV-**

They finished eating and each couple went their separate ways to discuss the idea of a vacation. Regulus and Holly went up to their sitting room to talk. They settled onto their couch next to each other, Holly had her feet up on the coffee table and Regulus had his arm wrapped around her shoulders. He was slowly stroking her hair as they sat in silence for a few moments. Holly finally spoke, what she said didn't appear to surprise Regulus greatly; she guessed he'd been thinking the same thing.

"I think we should resign from Hogwarts, at least temporarily, to raise our children. I know that I want to be there for them, and I hope you do to…"

"I do love, wouldn't miss it for the world," he assured her.

"…and now we have the money to take time and do whatever we wish. We can always go back later on, but I think for now we should spend the time here, with our friends, raising our children. After all, who else would they learn to prank from; certainly not McGonagall." They both laughed slightly at the thought of McGonagall teaching their children to pull pranks.

"I agree, my dear, with all my heart. I want to be there for our children as well. We can go back to Hogwarts when they start; I'm sure they'll _love_ that, their mum and dad teachers at their school."

"So we're agreed? No more working for a while, just the family?"

"Yes. It's settled."

"Good."

**-Alice's POV-**

Alice and Frank had also gone to their sitting room after dinner. Alice, being nearly eight months pregnant, found herself lying on the couch with her feet in Franks lap to get comfortable. He was sitting at the other end, absently rubbing her feet for her. They began talking the moment they were settled in.

"I think a trip would be lovely." Alice began their conversation.

"Yes, it would. However, I think something else needs to be decided first. I think I should resign for the time being to stay home with you. We have the money from our parents, a fair sum. We could afford to take the several years off to raise our child. What do you think?"

"Not to be rude, dear, but I've been hinting at this for quite a few months. So, forgive me when I say, it took you long enough." Alice smiled at the look on Franks face; he was dumbfounded.

"Well, at least we're on the same page now. Next time I'll either have to pay more attention or you'll have to be blunter."

"Sweetie, if I was any blunter, I would have resembled a dull ax." She once again grinned at his look of shock. "It's all right, dear, you caught on before the baby was born."

"So it's settled about the job. What about the trip? I must admit, it would be a rather fun thing to do."

"Yes, I think we should. The baby will be old enough by then for travel. We still have to choose a name you know." They had found out they were having a boy a few months ago. They hadn't wanted to know at first about the sex of the baby, as the charm could be easily wrong within the first five months or so. "I think we should each choose a name, and whichever one we like most will be his first and the other will be his middle."

They sat there thinking for a while and after a half hour or so they had their choices. Alice had chosen Neville after her grandfather and Frank had chosen Mortimer after his favorite uncle. They decided Neville would be best, so they were to name their baby Neville Mortimer Longbottom. Alice thought the name might give him cause to be teased, but was assured that he would have no problems with the other children, as most wizarding names were ridiculous and ended up being shortened.

They spent the night in quiet contentment up in their suite.

**-Rina's POV-**

Rina and Remus had gone into the library to read, as they'd already made a silent agreement at dinner and a verbal one a week ago. The silent agreement consisted of them wanting to go on the trip with the others; both thought it a good idea and they figured it would be safe for the baby to travel by then.

The verbal agreement about a week ago had been a little more of a lengthy chat. Remus had confronted her about the choice to stay home and help with their daughter who was to be born in August.

She had asked him if he would mind, and he had said no. He did, however, ask her about their monetary situation. She had handled their fiscal affairs as of late, so he hadn't the foggiest about their standings.

She had visited Gringotts a few weeks ago and had had a run-down of their accounts. She had eventually combined them all. She had told him they had more than enough to be getting on with. She was a pureblood witch from a substantially wealthy family and had her own account.

Remus also had an account from his father, who had died when he was young. It was a decent amount of money that would have gone to buying a certain potion if they didn't have such capable brewers in the house, but as it was it was slowly earning interest.

They were also in possession of a joint account containing all their earnings from working at the ministry.

After all was said and done, they had enough for several years of comfortable living; especially since they lived in a rent-free mansion with all meals provided for them. All they had to buy was clothes; and not that often. She had told all this to Remus and he had been relieved to hear he could take the time off to spend with her and their daughter. She had already resigned her post, much to the dismay of her boss, and Remus would hand his own resignation in on Monday. She knew their boss would be inconsolable as they had quickly become the best at their job. She had informed him that she would return _some_-day and not to fret too much.

They were, in fact, looking up names to do with the moon at the moment. They hadn't chosen a specific name yet but had decided it should be something to do with the moon or sky. This is what you could find them doing at night; searching the library for possible names.

**-Rose's POV-**

She and Sirius were upstairs in their bedroom. Rose was on her back looking up at the ceiling, absently stroking Sirius' head. Sirius was laying on his side with his head on her stomach and an arm around her waist. This had become a common position for them to lie in over the past months, as her stomach got bigger.

"Sirius," she said. "What do you think about the trip? I mean, we don't have to do it but I think it would be fun."

"Oh, I think it would be lovely. I've just been thinking…"

"Did it hurt?" she couldn't help asking, and then snickering at her own joke. He smiled then continued; she'd been like this the last trimester of her pregnancy, cracking random and odd jokes.

"Oh, a great deal, my lady. I fear I shall die of pain. But seriously, no pun intended, I was thinking before. I think I should resign. We have the money and I could spend the time at home with you."

"Are you sure you want to do that? I mean, don't get me wrong, I'd love to have you here with me. It's just that, I never thought you'd want to give up your job to stay at home."

"I don't want to miss a thing with you or our children, and if you're going to be here with them I couldn't be happier elsewhere. Besides, fatherhood will bring its own adventures, won't it?"

"That it will dear, that it will. Well, if you're absolutely sure you want this then I guess I'm happy. But, if you decide you want to go back to work, for any reason, just let me know and we'll arrange it, alright?"

"I got it love, although I don't foresee that happening."

"So what, now you're a divination buff? Well then, what will the lottery numbers be next week?" Sirius was, to say the least, confused at her joke. He hadn't learned about the muggle lottery yet, but apparently he would tonight. She enjoyed a thorough laugh at his confusion and explained to him about the lottery. After he grasped the general idea, he laughed along with her.

**-Lily's POV-**

Lily had a feeling she knew what James would do now. She had seen it forming in his mind for the past few days. He was going to tell her something she'd been hoping to hear from him for a while now.

He began pacing while she lay on the bed twiddling her thumbs waiting for him to begin. He finally stopped walking and went over to the bed. He knelt down next to the bed so he was eye level with her then took her hand.

"Lily, I want to temporarily resign my post so that we can raise little Osbert together." They had begun calling the baby Osbert because they couldn't think up baby names for a boy as of yet. They hadn't had the proper inspiration come to them, so Osbert was their back-up for the baby.

"Why James, whatever gave you that idea?" she asked him, feigning ignorance.

"You know very well what, you've been 'hinting' for months. What, didn't you think I noticed?" he asked this playfully, but with a little bit of seriousness in his tone showing her he really wanted to know.

"Of course I knew you caught the hints, I just wasn't sure you'd agree. I don't want you to resign unless you really want to, though. I don't want you to stay here brooding about what you could be doing."

"I really want this. Little Osbert will need us both to be here for him. And if I'm right, he'll have all his Uncles around too. They were all contemplating the same thing, I think."

"Yes, they would be. Well, since you're happy with your decision, I'm happy to welcome you to the role of full-time parent. It ought to be interesting; the ten of us home all day with seven babies. It will definitely be a sight to see. Now that that's settled, let us consider names once again."

They talked for a few hours about names, still drawing a blank about the choice to be made. They talked for a little bit after that, but then went to bed for a good nights rest. James would be resigning Monday and he'd need all the rest he could get to deal with Mad-Eye. The Auror was loosing six of his top Aurors for the next eleven years or so; that would bring any person down.

**-Mad-Eye Moody's POV-**

It had been hard to cope with the loss of three of his best Aurors in February. When the three pregnant women had resigned, he hadn't been entirely surprised but he was disappointed nevertheless about the loss of three such talented Aurors. They were hard put to find replacements for the three. They had already made names for themselves as well, as the top at their job. He didn't think the department could take any more losses.

They still had Black, Potter and Longbottom though; also exceptionally talented. Those three had been picking up the slack since their wives left and had done a damn good job of it too. At least one of them was requested for every case, and if you got the three of them together, they never failed. They were a great team that had been damaged slightly when their wives left, but the group had recovered their losses and continued on.

To say the least, Moody was nervous when all three walked into his office after lunch on the late day in June. He hoped they weren't going to do what he thought they were; the office would have such a time recovering from that.

"What do you three want?" he asked in a gruff voice, his composure hiding his nerves at what was about to happen.

"We need to talk to you Mad-Eye. It's rather important." James began their talk with a grasp on his composure that left nothing for Moody to read.

"I gathered that, get on with it. We haven't got all day."

"Mad-Eye, we're resigning. All three of us, but it's only temporary." Frank added his part of the 'speech'.

"Yeah, we're gonna take time off to be with the kids, then come back in a few years. Maybe more than a few, but we'll be back. So will the girls; they wanted us to assure you of that. They said that they didn't train for nothing and that they would be back when they were ready." Sirius said this all cautiously, trying to gauge Moody's mood.

"Damn straight you're all coming back. Take your damn time off, but get your arses back here as soon as you can. We have plenty to do, that needs you sixes skills. When will you start your 'break'?"

"Sirius is starting tomorrow; Frank and I will stay on for two more days to help with the rookies."

"Good, good. We're getting a new batch in tomorrow anyhow; you can show them the ropes before you go. Now, get out of my office you good for nothing louts and get back to work."

The three departed his office smirking. Once they had left and the door was shut, Moody drew his wand and conjured some targets. He immediately began throwing hexes at them and blowing them up. After a half hour of this, he felt able to address his people of the future loss. He walked to the door and opened it. He put an amplification spell on his voice and walked out to the group of cubicles.

"Attention!" he barked out. "We've got some announcements to make. Black will be off the job as of tomorrow; he's joining the others at home. Potter and Longbottom will be gone in two days; make the best of the time and pick their brains for what their worth. Find out what you can because they won't be back for a few years! CONSTANT VIGILANCE! How many times must I tell you; I could have been an impersonator and you'd all be dead by now. Get back to work."

When he walked back into his office, he didn't hear the noises of people working frantically; he heard a great collective silence. When he looked out the window on his door, he saw everyone sitting with their mouths hanging open looking at each other for confirmation on what they'd just heard. _So,_ he thought,_ they do grasp the situation properly. Maybe they'll get to work and make up for the losses; not likely. _

The Aurors finally got back to work and for the rest of the day, the three departing Aurors were being questioned by everyone and their dog. Especially Black; today was his last day. At the end of the day Black, Potter and Longbottom stayed a few hours late to finish up some of Blacks paperwork; at least it wasn't being left for their incapable replacements.

**-Frank's POV-**

"Mad-Eye took that better than I thought he would," Frank said once they were home. "I thought he was going to tell us we can't quit."

"Yeah, I wasn't expecting that either. I was figuring on him cursing us until we saw what a mistake we were making." James added. They were now sitting in the kitchen eating a late supper. The others had gone to bed already.

"You guys didn't see him after we left then. I was walking past his door a few minutes later and he was hexing and cursing conjured targets. He was furious." Sirius said after a bite of his sandwich. "He just didn't show it to us; had to keep his composure, didn't he. They'll get over it, eventually. I mean, there's only the three of us. Not that big a loss is it?"

"Course it is. There's also the girls, that's six losses. They still haven't caught up from those three resigning. No help for it though," James said.

"There really isn't," Frank added. "Not much we can do anyway, except work with the newbies and finish our paperwork."

"Too right," James agreed.

They sat in companionable silence for a while, still eating the food Tinker had prepared for them. Once they were done, they went to bed straight away. They had plenty to do coming up the next bit.

**-James' POV-**

It was Frank and James' last day at work. They had just gotten back from a late lunch and were walking into their office to finish clearing up their desks. They had vanished all their personal stuff home that morning and were almost done with their paperwork clearing up. They only had one drawer left on James' desk to go through. When they got back, they saw Sirius pacing in front of James' desk.

"What's up mate?" James asked his best friend.

"Rose. She's in labor at St. Mungo's. The others are there with her now; I was sent to get you two. I finished up your paperwork while I was waiting. I had Shacklebolt file it away after I sorted it. We've got to go. We'll use the floo in Mad-Eye's office."

The two didn't even bother speaking further; they just raced to Mad-Eye's office. They didn't even bother knocking; they just barged in and went to the fireplace. They flooed to St. Mungo's and followed Sirius to the proper waiting room. Their friends were all there already, waiting for them to get there.

**-Rose's POV-**

Rose woke up around four in the afternoon after a nap with a sharp pain in her stomach. She got up and began getting dressed, putting it off as an uncomfortable sleeping position. Sirius was in the shower. She put on her maternity dress; a blue flowery number. When she was walking to the door ten minutes later, it took her a while to get dressed; she had another of the sharp pains. This time she grimaced at the pain.

She ignored it again and walked down to the kitchen, stopping once on the stairs to sit down and rest; she was five floors up! When she finally got to her destination, she had another of the sharp, agonizing pains and decided that she must be in labor. She sat down, taking deep breaths to ease the pain; the breathing did absolutely nothing for the pain, she found, it only ticked her off. She spent the next few minutes catching her breath and deciding what to do. She was alone in the kitchen; everyone was still sleeping except for Sirius who was in the shower. _Besides, I couldn't walk up those stairs again if I wanted to_, she thought bitterly to herself. It turned out though, that she didn't need to walk up the stairs again.

When the next contraction came, or as she called them, Hell on Earth, she screamed.

"BLOODY HELL! SIIIIIRRRRIIIUUUSSSSSSS! GET YOUR ARSE DOWN HERE!"

Within one minute, Sirius was running down the stairs wrapped in a towel. He still had shampoo in his hair. He was quickly followed by Regulus and Remus, who had come to find out what the hell was going on. Sirius ran up to her.

"What is it love?"

"I'm," breath, "in labor," deeper breaths, "I need to," fuck the breathing, this hurts! "Get to the hospital NOW!" She began screaming. Her contractions were getting more painful, but keeping a distance time of about ten minutes or so.

"Sirius, go up and finish your shower then go get the others from work." Regulus dictated this to his older brother.

"Why don't you go get them? Huh? She's my wife!"

"Yes, but you'll be screaming at the nurses; nobody needs that straight away. We'll get her settled in by the time you get there and then you can spend the time with her. Now go. You look ridiculous."

Sirius left for the stairs and ran up them. Regulus and Remus waited until the next contraction had passed before helping me to my feet. By this time, the others had joined them in the kitchen. They all made their way to the fireplace in the sitting room. Regulus stepped into the fireplace with her and he shouted out 'St. Mungo's' just as another contraction hit her. She doubled over as she got to the other end. Lucky for her, Regulus caught her before she fell over from the intense pain she was feeling.

He brought her to the desk and told them the situation. The desk nurse said to wait for a few moments and someone would be with them shortly. I knew what that meant; it meant that they'd get to her when they were damn good and ready. She wasn't about to have her children in a waiting room in front of a group of strangers. She vaguely noted the entrance of Remus before she sidled over to the witch and began her rant.

"You had better get someone down here NOW! I'm not waiting for your convenience to have these children! If there isn't someone down here in less than five minutes, you'll be in a lot more pain than I am right now! Now get your arse moving and find me a healer!"

Rose had shouted so loudly that the entire waiting room was silent. The witch looked shocked; her brown eyes were wide.

"Straight away ma'am; I'll get right on it." She picked up her speaker phone and said into it; "Birthing Healer to the front desk, Birthing Healer to the front desk."

Rose smiled slightly at her handy work; she had a wonderful persuasive side when she needed it. She turned to Regulus and Remus who were gaping at her and gave them a quick smile. They returned it, but the moment didn't last as she the white hot poker had returned to attack her stomach. She doubled over again and Regulus and Remus each grabbed one of her arms. She took their hands and began squeezing with all her might.

She vaguely heard them gasp but was too focused on ridding herself of this torture to notice. Once the pain subsided, she saw there was a nurse waiting there for her with a floating gurney and that the others who had been at the house had arrived. She got on the bed and was taken to a delivery room. Her friends, she guessed, had been sent to a waiting room. They let two people stay with her; she guessed that it was Regulus and Remus still. They came up and took her hands again and stood next to her bed.

She tried to smile, but it was a pathetic attempt at best that ended up being a grimace as another contraction came at her. She screamed every vulgarism, every swear word, every obscenity that popped into her head. She began squeezing her friends' hands once again. When the contraction finished, she stopped her screaming and let go their hands. This was going to be a long night.

"Is Sirius here yet?" she asked.

"Not yet, Rose. He will be shortly though. How are you doing?" Remus answered her.

"Oh, I suppose I'll be alriiiiiight…" but she had to stop as another contraction came. She squeezed the hands again. This time she distinctly saw them wince. The contraction finished and she loosened her grip once again.

The healer began speaking, but she wasn't paying attention. She did here the woman say, though, that unless they were the father they had to leave. They protested; Regulus saying he was her brother-in-law and Remus saying she shouldn't be alone. They argued for a few minutes, pausing to wince when she squeezed their hands at the next contraction, and eventually agreed to let Regulus stay until Sirius got there.

Remus left muttering something about going to get Holly to check out his hands.

**-Regulus' POV-**

Regulus took her other hand with his when he saw her beginning to gasp at the pain. Her face was bright red and she was sweating profusely. He had asked the Healer about some pain spells or potions but had been told that she was to close to delivering to be allowed those. He grimaced as he thought about what she must feel like.

He stayed by her through the contractions until Sirius got there and took his place. Regulus left immediately to find Holly. He was pretty sure he'd heard something snap after the last contraction. He walked into the room cradling his hands and went to sit by his wife.

She took one look at him and said; "You as well, huh? Well get over here. Remus had a few broken bones in each hand. I'm fairly sure you will as well seeing as you were in there longer." She began setting the bones in his hand and soon the pain had dulled. "You had six broken bones in your right hand and eight in your left. What the hell is going on in there? Why is she in this much pain; I know Rose, she's very stoic when it comes to pain."

"They wouldn't give her any sort of relief for the pain as she was too close to delivering. I tried arguing and yelling and all sorts of rubbish but they wouldn't give in. Sirius will probably need his hands healed later as well."

"Poor Rose. Childbirth without pain relief; I don't envy her." Lily said, shaking her head at the thought.

**-Rose's POV-**

Regulus had left her side to be quickly replaced by her husband.

"Sirius," she said. "You're here. What took you so long?"

"Of course I'm here. James and Frank weren't at their desks when I got there so I had to wait for them to get back. Now then, we're almost there."

"What do you mean _we_? _I'm_ the one who's pushing two living people out of my body! There is no _we _here! Nest time _you_ can get pregnant and _I'll_ stand there telling _you_ to calm down! _WE_! HA! Yeah right. Oh SHIT!"

At that point she had to stop talking. The healer instructed that it was time to start pushing. She took a deep breath and pushed with all she had in her. It took four pushes to get the first baby out. The first out was a little girl. Rose began relaxing, as the Healer told her it may be a while. She went through a few more contractions before she was instructed to start pushing again.

She took hold of Sirius and pushed. The second baby didn't seem to want to be born; it took her eleven pushes to get the baby out. The second was a little boy.

The twins were taken to be cleaned up. Once they had been washed, they were brought to their parents to be held. Rose took their daughter in her arms while Sirius held their son.

They had decided to follow the Black family tradition and name their children after stars or constellations. They'd chosen some that they thought appropriate.

"Callidora Adhara and Arcturus Procyon Black," Rose stated. "They're beautiful."

"They're wonderful, amazing and every other possibility." Sirius agreed with Rose. "Can I take Calla to go show the others?"

Rose nodded and handed over their daughter. Sirius walked from the room, crooning over their children. She was tired as hell, so she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

**-Sirius' POV-**

Sirius wanted to show off his children to the others. He was so thrilled about being a father; nothing could burst his bubble right now. He felt he couldn't be much happier. He walked into the waiting room to show his friends his children.

James, Regulus, Remus and Frank all got up to look at their 'niece' and 'nephew'. Sirius just kept smiling down at his children for a while. Once the guys had finished examining the babies, Sirius brought them over to the other ladies.

"Lily, this is Calla; short for Callidora Adhara Black. Holly, this is Arcturus Procyon. Kids, meet your aunts; Lily, Holly, Rina and Alice. Behave while I go check on your mother." Sirius handed his children over to their aunts and went to see Rose quickly; it was quite the wrench leaving his children, but he knew his friends would take proper care of them and he wanted to see Rose.

He walked out of the room, noticing that the girls were singing to the young ones. He went back to the room Rose was in and saw her asleep. He went over and bent to kiss her forehead. He didn't want to disturb her, so he went back to his friends and his children.

When he walked in, he reclaimed Calla and Arcturus from Alice and Rina; who were the ones holding them now. He sat down and began rocking them gently. He looked up after a few minutes to see everyone smiling at him.

"What? Haven't you ever seen a man dote over his children?"

"No, no we haven't. But next time, we'll know what we're looking at and we won't stare." James replied with large amounts of sarcasm in his voice. "Hey mate, can you take any more good news today? Cause we've got something that will brighten even the worst of days."

"Go on."

"Mad-Eye caught a certain Death Eater today. He came by and told us, also wanted to check up on Rose but he wouldn't say that. He happened to stumble across Bellatrix Lestrange and her husband, Rodolphus. They have now been put to Azkaban with a trial date set for October; nobody's in a hurry to see them out."

"That's great!" Sirius exclaimed. "When did he catch her?"

"About an hour after we got here, he got a call to London. Bella was hiding in a local pub, using Polyjuice. He was using the dark detector spell and it turned black when it was pointed at her. He bound her on suspicion and brought her in. Shortly thereafter, she changed back to her ugly self and was imprisoned. Apparently, Rodolphus had tried to help her get away and had ended up being caught as well." Frank gave Sirius all the details he knew of on the situation. "How's Rose doing?"

"She's asleep. She was really exhausted after the delivery."

They continued to talk for a little while, then Sirius went back to speak with Rose. He found her sitting up and talking to a secretary of sorts.

"Ah, good timing Mr. Black. We'll be needing footprints momentarily." The woman began murmuring to herself, "date of birth, June 28th, 1980. Time of birth, 9:36 p.m. Place of birth, St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. Alright, that's it. Now then, footprints."

The woman proceeded to finish her paperwork then departed. Sirius and Rose didn't sleep that night; they stayed up watching their children with adoring smiles on their faces. Rose was released a few days later as were the children.

**-Frank's POV-**

One month later, July 30th, they were all back at the hospital again. This time, Alice was the one giving birth. Frank was by her side the entire time. Alice had woken up at four in the morning with a contraction and they had gotten to the hospital immediately, barely remembering to tell the others where they were going.

It was now 7:30 and Alice had just given birth to Neville Mortimer Longbottom who was being cleaned and handed to his parents. Frank brought their son to their friends in the waiting room after a short while. They all oohed and ahhed for Neville.

"This, everyone, is Neville Mortimer Longbottom. Alice is resting just now. I told her I'd be back in a little while. Neville meet your Aunts Lily, Rose, Rina and Holly and your Uncles James, Remus and Regulus." Sirius was currently at home with the twins, but would be bringing them to visit anytime now. Frank chatted for a while and then went back to Alice. The others came along to visit with her.

**-Alice's POV-**

Labor had been tiring; though not as painful as Rose's had been because Alice had had pain killers. The nurse's assistant came in around mid-morning with some food for Alice and some paperwork about the birth. After the paperwork had been finished, the healer came in to check on Alice and Neville. The healer gave their friends permission to come in and see her for a short while and Frank brought them in from the waiting room. The guys eventually wandered off in search of breakfast.

They talked and introduced Neville to Calla and Arcturus. Alice reveled in the new life that was her son. She was talking with the others, but they stopped when they heard nurses talking in the hallway.

"Can you believe the Malfoy's had another child? Mrs. Malfoy has brought their new son in four times since he was born in early June. She did that with their daughter as well; as if something without symptoms was attacking the child. She's going to turn those children into hypochondriacs; it's inevitable with all their unnecessary visits to the hospital."

"A second child; wasn't the one bad enough?"

"Apparently not; they're thrilled though, a son to pass on the family name. Mr. Malfoy especially."

The nurses walked away just then. The group of women was shocked, to say the least. Two Malfoy children who would probably be attending Hogwarts, not good at all.

**-Lily's POV-**

Lily and the others were visiting Alice. It was mid-morning on the 30th and the women were chatting while the men went in search of food. They talked about how any time now; Lily would be going into labor. Lily didn't know if it was a coincidence or not, but at that moment she started having pains in her stomach and back.

She told the others and Alice pushed a call button for a nurse. When the nurse came in, Alice explained that they would need to be admitting Lily straight away.

Lily tried telling the nurse that it was probably just something she'd eaten, but the nurse said it was better to be safe than sorry. Rose went off in search of the guys and Lily was led to the room right next to Alice's.

They had her put on a gown and started checking her over with spells. They discovered that she was, in fact, in labor but that she had quite a ways to go yet. The nurse told her to make herself comfortable as it would be a long while.

Lily put a few pillows behind her back and head then leaned back and settled in. Rina and Holly came in then, smiling at her and looking slightly smug.

"What'd they say?" Holly asked.

"I'm in labor," Lily mumbled.

"Thought so; what can we do? Rose is still in pursuit of the guys and Alice has the twins as well as Neville in her room with her." Rina offered their help to Lily.

"Well, they say it's going to be a while; would one of you mind getting me a book from the library?"

Holly immediately left to get the book and Rina stayed to keep her company. Ten minutes later, Holly was back with a book in her hand. She handed the book over to Lily.

"_Quidditch Through The Ages;_ very funny, Holly; now, where's the real book?"

"That's it. I just went in and grabbed the book off the table. Didn't look at the title before I left again."

Holly had a devious smile on her face. Lily decided to play along with the joke.

"Ok then, I guess I'll just learn the finer points of quidditch. You lot get out now, I need to concentrate if I'm to learn anything useful."

"Why do you always have to figure everything out?" Holly asked after Lily said her little speech. "Why can't we just have our fun?"

"Because; that's no fun for me. Now, where's the real book? Excellent," Holly had handed Lily her favorite book; _Hogwarts: A History_. "Thank you Holly. You guys can stay and chat; I'm going to read about the ceiling some more. It never ceases to interest me, the ceiling at Hogwarts."

Holly settled down next to Rina and they began chatting while Lily read. About ten minutes after they had started, they were interrupted by James bursting through the door looking about frantically.

**-James' POV-**

James was running down the hallways towards the room Rose said Lily was in. He shoved the door open in his haste to get to the delivery in time; Rose had said that Lily would be delivering any minute now. He got through the door and skidded to a halt. What he saw didn't resemble anything close to an imminent birth.

Lily was reading and Rina and Holly were talking amongst themselves. He looked around confused after seeing that; he had been frantic before. Rose walked in behind him, followed by the others.

"I thought you said she would be delivering any moment now, Rose." James was a bit more than miffed with Rose right now.

"Well, she could have been. When I left all I knew was she was having contractions." Rose put on her most innocent look but failed horribly when it turned into a smirk and she began laughing. James looked behind him and saw that the others were laughing as well.

"That's not funny, Rose. Not funny at all."

He shook his head and walked over to Lily. She told him what had happened so far and he settled in next to her in a chair.

**-Lily's POV-**

The others had left by now, leaving James and Lily alone. They talked about names for their son.

For boys, they liked Harry, Andrew, Charles and Ian. For girls, they liked a lot of names, their favorites being; Hallie, Alexandra, Catherine and Isis. They were already considering more children, so they thought of girls' names as well; just in case.

After a few hours of talking about more names, the contractions started to get closer together. It was around 7:00 now, time for dinner. Lily was sitting on her bed reading again when they brought the food; the nurse brought Lily's tray while Sirius got James something from the cafeteria.

They ate and then talked some more; the contractions were still rather far apart, about fifteen minutes. The nurse said to call for her when they were about five minutes apart. Their friends came to visit again before heading to the waiting room to sleep. James stayed up all night with Lily, holding her hand for every contraction, though they were considerably dulled by the pain relief potion.

At about two in the morning, the contractions started to get closer together again. Now they were only ten minutes apart. Lily dozed off, with James there in case she needed anything.

She would wake up at every contraction, so she didn't fall into a deep slumber. After three hours of fitful dozing, the contractions started to get closer together again and at a steady pace this time. By 8:00 they were five minutes apart and the nurse was called.

They weren't allowed to give her any more pain potions, so the contractions were coming in full-boar. The Healer allowed two people in the room at a time; James was always there, while the other guys rotated turns coming in and letting her squeeze their hands and yell at them.

She almost laughed at the look of shock on Remus' face; she had just screamed a particularly strong obscenity at the arrival of a contraction. She supposed he was so shocked as she very rarely swore. When it passed, she turned to him and smiled.

"It's a special case, today is. Just don't go spreading it around." She tried to joke with him, but got interrupted by another of the blasted contractions. They felt like someone was tearing her insides out. She felt as though her stomach was being ripped to shreds. She screamed!

She yelled everything she could think of, everything. Sometimes, she just let it out in one long, agonizing shriek. She felt sorry for Remus, with his heightened sense of hearing, but not for long.

The white-hot torture was coming every three minutes now. They were having her push with all her being. She tried and tried but it wasn't enough. They kept telling her to push and she started yelling at the Healer.

"BLOODY HEALER! QUIT TELLING ME TO PUSH DAMMIT?" She continued screaming until she had a second of respite before the next contraction and set of pushing. When the white hot poker returned, she started screaming again. "SHIT! DAMN! MERLIN HELP ME I'M NEVER DOING THIS AGAIN! I'M GOING TO KILL THE CRUEL SON-OF-A-BITCH THAT THOUGHT UP CHILDBIRTH!"

After a few more pushes, Harry was finally born. She almost cried with relief, until she started to feel another contraction.

"What's happening, they're starting up again. Why?" she asked the healer.

"It's not possible!" The healer was muttering to herself while checking Lily over. "It's not bloody possible, last time was 300 years ago!" She turned to Lily again. "Lily, I'm going to need you to push. It seems that you're having twins today."

"TWINS! How do you miss TWINS? HOW?"

"Lily, we need you to push now!"

Lily started pushing again, using her new fury at the healers to fuel her strength. She grabbed onto James' hand; the other guys had left when the pushing had begun. She looked at him quickly and saw that he looked like she felt; completely shocked. She pushed a few more times and then came the cries of a newborn baby brought safely to the world.

The healers cleared up the mess and washed the babies. The two were brought to the new parents promptly.

"Mr. and Mrs. Potter, you are now the proud parents of a baby boy and a baby girl. The boy is older by eight minutes. Both are perfectly healthy and in good condition."

The room was cleared out by all the nurses and healers. Lily and James looked at their children.

"_Twins_? What kind of screw-up was there that they didn't detect we were having twins? How hard is it, really, to check?"

"I don't know, Lily, I just know they're both healthy and beautiful. I guess we have to choose the second name. I vote for Hallie Lillian. What do you think?"

"I think Hallie Lillian Potter is a lovely name; it goes well with Harry James Potter."

"I'm not sure; Harry's good for when you're younger, but when he gets older he might need something more distinguished. What am I saying, distinguished, bah! Let's just go for Harry straight off the bat. Much easier that way, isn't it? Hallie Lillian Potter and Harry James Potter; our children; aren't they lovely?"

"They're perfect. Look, they both have brown hair just like you. I can't wait for them to open their eyes so we can see if their brown or green."

"I hope their green just like yours. I know Harry'll have the same problems with his hair that I do, but I hope Hallie has smooth hair like yours that can be tamed."

"I'm sure they'll look just fine either way. Can you imagine what everyone's going to say? I mean; twins. It's so unexpected. We'll have to do some more shopping when I get released. Three sets of Marauder spawned twins running around Hogwarts the same year, poor Minerva."

"Aw, Minnie will be just fine."

"Where did Minnie come from?"

"Sirius used to call her that in first year, to her face and during class." James chuckled at the memory. "She would reprimand him and he'd revert to Professor Minnie. It bugged her so much, but he persisted, of course, like he always did. I guess I just remembered that when you mentioned twins and Minnie; she always said Padfoot and I may as well be twins, with how much we acted alike."

"Well then, Minnie it is from now on. You'll have to remind Sirius, as I'm sure he'll have forgotten."

"Naw, Padfoot would never forget; he just stopped calling her that because after a while she started sending him to Dumbledore's office whenever he called her that. He finally stopped after twenty visits."

"_Twenty_?" Lily asked incredulously. "My, he is the persistent one isn't he? We should let the others know what's going on."

"I have an idea, I'll take Hallie out to show them; just Hallie. You stay here with Harry and I'll be back in a few." James got up and left the room with Hallie in his arms.

**-James' POV-**

James took their daughter from Lily and walked to the waiting room. He looked in before he opened the door. All their friends were sitting there, more or less twiddling their thumbs. He opened the door and walked in.

"Everyone, this is Hallie Lillian Potter." He said upon entering. All those who could stand quickly did so; Rina and Holly were fairly pregnant and Rose and Alice were holding their children. They all walked over to see the baby.

"Bit of a girly name, isn't it mate?" Sirius asked.

"You dolt, they had a girl. The tests must have read wrong somewhere along the line. How's Lily doing?" Remus said, smacking Sirius on the back of the head for his stupidity.

"She's fine, in fact, you should all come and see her before the healer restricts visitors."

They all followed him into the hallway; he hung back and walked with all the girls so they could croon over Hallie. The four guys walked into the room and paused. James heard Lily tell them something.

"Hi guys, this is your nephew; Harry James Potter. Want to come meet him?"

"Did you or James get hit on the head or something? He just showed us your daughter. What's going on?" Sirius asked, again a little slow on the up-take.

"You nimrod," Remus said, cuffing Sirius on the ear this time, "they had twins. Good Merlin, how slow do you get. How did they miss it though, Lily?"

"Well, the healer was just in explaining that. It seems it's the first time in over 300 hundred years that this particular slip up happened. She told me that what happened was Hallie was hiding behind Harry, or something like that. She didn't know how they fooled the magic, but said they would be checking into it. In the meantime, I'm going to ask that one of you floo Dumbledore and have him come here; I'd like to speak with him."

James and the girls and babies walked into the room and sat in some chairs surrounding the bed while the guys just stood about.

"I'll go do that," Remus offered. "Just don't go into labor while I'm gone, Rina." He joked, causing everyone to chuckle. He left for the nearest floo connection to call Dumbledore. James handed Hallie to Lily and took Harry from her. They introduced the new twins to the older ones and Neville.

By the time introductions had been completed, Remus was back with Dumbledore on his heels.

"Well, Lily, I must say this is odd. I'm not exactly sure what's happened here, or why, but I have the feeling we should figure it out at once. I'm going to enlist the help of others to search for information on the last occurrence of this type and others before it. It shouldn't be to long; not with Madam Pince on the hunt, it shouldn't take her long to find everything about the subject in our libraries."

"Thank you, Albus. That would be most helpful. In the meantime, both are in perfect health. Albus, this," she held up Hallie, "is Hallie Lillian Potter."

"And this," James said, holding up Harry, "is Harry James Potter."

"Lovely, lovely. Splendid names, if I do say so. Would you mind if I do a few charms of my own to check their health and so on? The information could prove useful in research." James and Lily nodded, so Dumbledore took out his wand and began waving it over Hallie. His brow furrowed and he frowned slightly. He began waving his wand over Harry and his frown deepened. He repeated this process several times. "Peculiar. Lily, James, I must speak with you two alone. Could the rest of you please clear out?" Everyone else left at once, leaving the new parents and their former headmaster. "I've discovered something, while not unheard of, it is very rare. Both of your children seem to have extremely powerful magical capabilities. They are both already very strong in the magical sense; each very near that of a grown wizard's strength. The peculiar part though, is that they have incredible room for growth in their magical cores; they are nowhere near their full potential. I believe they will do great things, when they grow up some more. I remember a story, told to me once, by my own mentor. It may apply here."

"I can't remember much, and I'd rather not give you false information; I'll read up on the story and tell you once I've got it."

"The point is, your children will be immensely powerful at an early age. I wouldn't be surprised if they had great control, comparable to that of a fully grown wizard, over their magic by the age of five. They will accomplish a lot in their lives, if they are taught properly how to use and control their magic. Their magic will not, of course, just burst into being. It will develop slowly like other children; they will just be much more powerful in the end run. I think that stronger wards should be put up around your house, and soon. Voldemort will be able to sense this type of magic and he'll come looking for it. I would also advise you start teaching them control over their magic as soon as possible. If they start showing signs of special abilities, please contact me at once with information. I must be going now. If you have any other questions, feel free to floo me at any time." With that he got up and left.

"What, he's going to drop that bombshell and walk away without answering questions?" James was setting up for a rant, Lily knew. "Oh, you have powerful children that the most evil git in the world is going to hunt, but I've got to go. What is that rubbish? Coming in here and declaring that then leaving! I ought to go after him and give him a piece of my mind!"

"James, calm down. We can floo him when I'm out of the hospital. Until then, we should just enjoy our healthy children before they start floating us about the house."

"Right; well, since we now have so much to do, I think maybe I should take Rose and Sirius and get the shopping done. That way we can focus on this whole 'your children will be magical geniuses' thing more fully later. Should we tell anybody about it?"

"Good idea, and no; not until we know more, not even Sirius. You should get going. I'll stay here with Hallie and Harry; it ought to be fun, I can start to get to know them."

**-James' POV-**

He got up to go find Rose and Sirius. They were in the waiting room with the others talking. When he approached them, they asked him what was going on with Dumbledore.

"Oh, it's nothing; he just wanted to tell us something about Lily's sister. I stopped paying attention after I heard the topic." He could tell his friends didn't believe him, but the fact that he was even trying to lie told them to drop it for now. "Rose, Sirius, can you guys come with me to get some more baby stuff; we're not prepared for two babies." They nodded their affirmation to the idea and got up. "Great. The kids can stay with Lily and the others; can the rest of you go keep Lily company? I don't want her to be alone for long and we might be a while." The rest of his friends got up and went to chat with Lily, taking Calla and Arcturus with them. He thought of how great his friends were; and with a pang of sadness he tried not to think about Peter.

The three going shopping left for the Leaky Cauldron through the floo. They got there and walked into Diagon Ally. The three stopped briefly for some ice cream at Fortesque's parlor then continued on for the bank; James was going to get two of the credit card things for him and Lily. They went in and spoke with the Potter family account manager; a goblin named Zaida. She set up the cards for Lily and James quickly. At the meeting, as they were so few, she informed him of his family's current holdings.

The Potters were currently in possession of five estates and six other pieces of land plus Godric's Hollow and his parents' home making 13 properties in all. They had stocks and bonds invested in various things, all profiting well. They owned four properties in Diagon Alley, three of which were being rented. And their monetary value came out to be 450 million Galleons, 12 Sickles and 16 Knuts.

This number fluctuated on a daily basis, Zaida said, but it was well past the point of needing to worry about having fiscal funds. She also told him of many family heirlooms and family documentation in their vault. James, who was rather curious about all this, decided to take a trip into his vault. He asked the others if they wanted to come, but they said he should do this alone.

He was led down by Zaida. He got to the vault, at least a dozen stories underground, and was told to put his hands in the indented space for such appendages and to look directly at the door. He did as told and felt a tingling sensation in his hands and saw a light point at his eyes.

Slowly, the door opened and he walked in. There were chairs with red velvet upholstery about one half of the room to sit in. The other half was all money; James didn't think he'd ever seen so much money! This was the entire Potter vault; he usually spent form his own personal vault set up by his parents.

He went to the giant desk and began looking about it. He saw a family tree hanging above the desk; it was stitched hand stitched with gold thread on a red material. It went back more than a millennia. He saw, with a great amount of fascination, that he was a descendant of Godric Gryffindor. He would have to speak with his parents about this vault. For now, he just looked around some more. He found a lot of paper about various properties and birth/death certificates.

He decided to take the tapestry with him, for future examination. He wanted to hang it up in his study at home. He was impressed to see that Harry and Hallie had been added to the bottom already; _huh, I guess it's charmed to add any addition to the family once the addition occurs_.

He went back up to the surface and decided one more thing should be done. He asked Zaida to set up an account for each of his children. He told her to put a million galleons in each account; they would grow interest, and in any case one would be hard put to spend a million galleons.

He went and collected Sirius and Rose from the front entrance and they left for the store containing necessary items for a baby. Rose picked out all the clothes for the new girl; they'd already gotten a lot of boys' clothes. She gave her opinion on which crib to get, what type of mobile and so on. They got more diapers and another blanket, which Rose chose. It was a pale green with a different magical item in each corner; a broom, a wand with sparks shooting out of it, a cauldron with smoke coming off it and in the last corner there was space left for her initials. They had those embroidered on; HLP. They had gotten a similar blanket for Harry months ago; it was also pale green but it had a book instead of a cauldron and the initials read HJP; it was charmed to automatically put the initials on by the owner of the store. They got everything they thought they'd need plus some stuff Rose insisted upon purchasing.

They also decided to set up a specific room in the house, on the first floor, for changing the babies diapers in so that they didn't have to continuously walk up to the nursery's to change diapers. They would convert the room that Sirius had found last week into the changing room. It was a fair size, hidden behind a charm on the wall to make the door disappear. They got a few changing tables and another stock of diapers; they shrunk everything and put it into three or four bags. They sent it home by way of vanishing then left for the hospital. When they got back, James was surprised to see Dumbledore there again. He once again asked for privacy with the pair and so they were left alone.

"I have found the story and can now give you the finer details. I'll just read from the book, shall I?...

_In the mid- sixteen hundreds, there existed a brother and sister, twins, of Lord and Lady status with magical abilities rarely seen. The mother, name unknown, was only expecting one child; the charms and spells revealed only one of the twins to healers of the time. When the children were born, all were curious as to the occurrence of such an anomaly. They were researched, but not much was found by test spells except that they were both magically powerful beyond the normal level of a newborn. They possessed magic at a level of a full-grown witch or wizard, still having enormous room for magical growth. They were left to grow up under care of their parents. While the two grew, they began displaying a fierce loyalty to one another; one was rarely in a fight of any sort without the other for support. They also developed powerful abilities in many fields of magic that had not been practiced since the time of Merlin._

_Lady Claire possessed the abilities of; thought reading (different from Legilimency in that she did not need eye contact or a spell) and self-levitation (she could basically fly, but it was limited to an unknown height). Lord Charles also possessed a few unique abilities; telepathy (he could move things with his mind) and spell protection (most hexes and jinxes would not affect him; much like a giant or a troll)._

_Lady Claire and Lord Charles shared many abilities as well; that of empathy, for one. Many say this was one reason they got along so well, they understood each others' emotions all the time. Some say this was also the cause for success in later life as diplomats and leaders. Another shared ability, was that of Animagus transformations. The two were exceptionally gifted and could change into any animal they wished; a rare ability still being passed through families; those possessing it have been termed Polyanimagi. Both were also gifted with languages, speaking well over one hundred each; this included Parseltongue, Mermish, Troll, Gobbledegook, and many more, including human languages. _

_They were talented at all they did; also maintaining, what others termed, a 'trouble-making' streak. They were surpassed by none in their abilities and both had a thirst for knowledge that was nearly insatiable. They would study and read whatever they could get their hands on. The twins also enjoyed Quidditch; they both played for their house team at Hogwarts, Gryffindor. _

_When they left school, they went on to become political leaders and diplomats for England. Lady Claire Potter married James Prewett and had six sons. Lady Claire Potter Prewett died in her mid-hundreds. Lord Charles Potter married Margaret MacDougal and produced three daughters and four sons. Lord Charles Potter died in his mid-hundreds; some believe the same as his sister._

"From there, it goes on to talk about their descendants; of which you would probably find on your family tapestry. I believe it is in your family's vault at Gringotts."

"I've visited there today and I removed the tapestry to the manor. I can summon it here, _Accio Tapestry_." The tapestry appeared shortly there-after and went straight to James. He un-rolled it and Dumbledore cast a levitation charm upon it to keep it floating where they could all read it. James, Lily and Dumbledore began reading the tapestry, looking at all the names.

"Got it!" exclaimed Lily. "It's just there," she pointed to a spot near the bottom third of the tapestry on the right half.

"Wonderful. It appears that I'm a direct descendant of Lord Charles, which would explain the whole unknown twin's thing, I suppose. Albus, I also wanted to ask about another ancestor; I was going to question my parents, but you're here." James pointed to Godric Gryffindor's name on the tapestry. "Incidentally, I'm a descendant of Godric. It also appears that Godric was one of the twins' ancestors. Strange, isn't it?"

"Not really James. I suggest you speak with your parents though; they'll no doubt have more information on your parentage than I do. Now then, about this story, I believe that your children are another set of magical twins. I think that they will inherit the same abilities as Claire and Charles possessed and that they will be similarly gifted in what they do."

"If this is the case," Dumbledore continued, "then they should be more than safe in each others' presence. I would still like to put more wards up around your home and I've asked the other professors in the Order the help. We will stop by later today and put them up, keying them to the ten of you; your children will automatically be added to the wards keys. We have to discuss your children's futures. I should still like to train them as much as possible while they're still young to control their magic. We will have to wait and see, though, what their abilities are. In the meantime, let us work on protecting them to our best ability."

"Thank you, Albus. And please thank the others for us as well, for working on all this. Is there anything we know about that we can work on as of now? I mean, when do you think their abilities will start to develop?"

"I don't think that you will have to worry about those for a few months, at least. If they do exhibit odd behavior though, inform me at once. Also feel free to bring them to the school for check-ups whenever you wish; Poppy has returned, she decided that the hospital wing was her true home."

"Thank you, Albus." James thanked the man who had just come to such extensive conclusions about his children. "We'll be seeing you, soon I'm sure."

Dumbledore took one last look at the twins then departed. After James had once again vanished the tapestry to the house, he sat next to Lily and took Harry from her.

"Well, look at it this way," Lily said, "they've already got nicknames."

"Oh, and what might those be?" James inquired.

"Lady Hallie and Lord Harry," Lily smiled and James laughed, the names were perfect.

**-Lily's POV-**

Lily had been released from the hospital the day before. She and James had decided to bring the children to the house and get settled in a bit and enjoy their first day home. Today, though, they were going to speak with James' parents about his heritage. Harry and Hallie, to the envy of her friends, slept through the night; Lily had asked Dumbledore by way of floo and he said that as long as they were together, they should be perfectly comfortable and calm. She was shocked, but decided that it made sense.

She and James woke up and got ready for their trip. They each dressed a child and then headed for the floo; you weren't supposed to apparate a baby until it was nine months old. They put bubble-head charms on the two and got into the floo; they didn't want Harry or Hallie to inhale ash.

They stepped out of the fireplace at Potter Manor and James called for his parents. They came into the room and smiled. Harriet walked up and took Harry from James and Hallie from Lily then went to sit on the couch in the room.

"They're wonderful, simply wonderful. I finally have grandchildren to dote upon; how much more lucky could I hope to have been." Harriet was nearly beside herself with joy.

"Actually, mum, we have another reason for the visit. When I went to Gringotts the other day, I went into the Potter family vault and noticed a tapestry. I took it down and brought it with me; I have some questions about some of our ancestors. First of all; why didn't you tell me I was a descendant of Godric Gryffindor?" James sounded like he was going to snap anytime, so Lily put a comforting hand on his shoulder that he covered with one of his own.

"Well son," Henry began, "we had our reasons. It would have been dangerous, for one, having a child walking about proclaiming that he was a descendant of one of the greatest wizards of all time. We thought it best to wait, and then it didn't seem all that important. You could have been hurt if the knowledge got out; before you found out, only Albus Dumbledore and Minerva McGonagall knew about our ancestry. I assume you've kept this to yourself. Another was, we didn't want you thinking you were better than anyone else because of your family; we saw how you acted with the Potter line, what would have happened if you'd known about the Gryffindor line? We weren't sure; but now you know, are there any other questions?"

"Yes; but first, did you ever trust me? I mean really trust me?"

"Of course we did, it was just such a touchy subject we thought it left best alone. We would suggest, that once you're done with it, that you put that tapestry back in the vault for safe-keeping. Now, what is it you want to know dear?" Harriet asked her son.

"Do you know anything about Lord Charles Potter and Lady Claire Potter Prewett?" Lily asked before James could make any more comments. Harriet turned to Lily with a surprised look on her face.

"Not much about their magic, only that they were very powerful. As for their families, Lady Claire married a Prewett, as you know, and had several sons. That line continues on today; I believe that if you were to follow the line, you would find Molly Prewett Weasley on there along with her brothers. Lord Charles was one of our direct descendants, I believe, though I'm not exactly sure of the line leading to us."

"Thank you," James said, "for the information. We can only stay a short while though, a meeting with Dumbledore, so you'd best get to doting over Hallie and Harry."

Harriet wasted no time in getting back to crooning over the twins. They stayed for lunch then flooed to Dumbledore's office; again using the bubble-head charm on the twins. When they got there, they saw Dumbledore speaking with Minnie. When James had told Sirius about the name, Lily had seen a spark light in Sirius' eyes. They went in and sat down. Minnie asked to hold Hallie, so Lily handed her over. Minnie began smiling at the baby in her arms. Dumbledore, likewise, wanted to hold Harry so James gave him over; he was obviously proud of his children, but so was she.

"Wonderful to see you all; what can we do for you?" Dumbledore asked.

"We'd like to talk some more about the twins future abilities. They haven't done anything spectacular yet, except sleep through the night. We wanted to talk to you and see if you knew of anything else that would be helpful." Lily directed her statement at Dumbledore, occasionally glancing at Minnie.

"Well, first of all, did you gather any new information about Lord Charles and Lady Claire from James' parents?"

"No, just that Molly Weasley is a descendant of Lady Claire Potter Prewett." Lily answered Dumbledore.

"Ah, yes. Anyway, we don't know a terrible lot about the pair three hundred years ago. Madam Pince did, however, find out that there was another such occurrence 600 or so years ago, three hundred before Lord Charles and Lady Claire. That one was even less documented than the one I told you of yesterday. All that is known is that it was also a set of twins, one male one female, and that they also had special abilities, though what they were was unknown, and that they too were fiercely loyal to each other as well as protective of each other." Dumbledore relayed the new information to James and Lily.

"That is all we have found out about past occurrences. However, for this particular occurrence, I believe we have found out some potentially useful tidbits. Those of us researching the topic have all come to the conclusion that Harry and Hallie will be a talented wizard and witch. We would like to have them tutored before they enter Hogwarts, and most professors have agreed. I am still lacking a Potions professor, but you all are more than capable of that. What we'd like to do, is watch them for a few years to see how they develop magically. Once they are two or three, we will begin training them to use their magic properly; nothing to harsh, we still want them to have a wonderful childhood after all, just enough to get them used to the level of magic they'll be growing into. As they get older, we would change the training from control of magic to development of abilities."

"Not much can be done before that time, so I would suggest you enjoy your children and not worry about this. We did drop by and put up the wards; Minerva, Fillius, Pomona, Andromeda and I have all put on the most powerful wards we could think of. I believe that your home should be perfectly safe, to say the least. Beyond that, the two will protect each other; accidental magic, don't you know. We believe that the two will come to no harm, so all should be well." Dumbledore concluded his advice with a smile at Lily and James.

"So there's really nothing we can do, is there?" James asked.

"No, there isn't." Dumbledore replied.

"What about who we tell, should we keep it a secret?" Lily inquired.

"My dear, I would suggest telling only those you trust implicitly. I have told only Minerva and Madam Pince; the others only knew about strengthening wards to protect the children. It's a rather delicate situation and must be treated as such. I would also like to put certain charms on the two; it will not harm them in any way, merely mask their magical ability so that others cannot sense it. It will last shortly over a year; I cannot replenish it until it has worn off, though, so you'll have to inform me of that day so I can renew it."

"On a lighter note," began Minnie, "I can't wait to have them in transfiguration class. I'd also be more than happy to train them in transformations, when the time comes. I think we can expect a lot out of these two."

"That's for sure," mumbled James.

"Hallie has the loveliest green eyes, Albus. What color are Harry's?"

"They are the same vivid green, Minerva. I can tell already that they're going to look remarkably like you two, remarkably."

"They'll be a regular pair of heartbreakers, these two," Minnie agreed.

"Yes, can you picture them teaming up with Sirius and Regulus' children? Most remarkable, it will be."

"How many Marauders will this school have to suffer before they stop coming back?" Minnie asked.

"I hope many more, Minerva. But, we cannot be holding Lily and James up all day; no matter how lovely their company is." Dumbledore handed Harry to Lily and Minnie reluctantly gave Hallie to James. "Good day, to both of you. The next Order meeting will be this weekend. Don't forget, it's a delicate situation; choose your confidants carefully."

Lily and James got up and went through the floo to their home. They were going to discuss who to tell before dinner, if the pointed look James gave Lily meant anything, which meant they had to hurry as dinner would be in only an hour.

They stepped through the floo into their sitting room. They found Sirius in the kitchen, when wasn't he there? They told him that they needed to discuss some matters privately and that they were going up to Harry and Hallie's nursery for a while.

**-James' POV-**

After speaking briefly with Sirius and throwing off his attempts at finding out what was happening, Lily and James walked up to the nursery. Shortly after Lily had found out she was pregnant, she and James had decorated one of the spare rooms. They had painted it a pale green, much like the color of the baby-blankets. There was a border around the room that had books on it, Lily had chosen it. There were two cribs along the far wall, under the windows and on opposite sides of the balcony door. They were each in a corner; Hallie's on the left and Harry's on the right. At the end of Hallie's crib was a rocking chair for Lily to sit in while feeding them. At the end of Harry's crib was the changing table. Above each of the cribs, was a mobile. They had different things dangling from them; James had chosen Harry's, so it was quidditch themed with quaffles, snitches, bludgers and brooms hanging down. Hallie's was more along the lines of academic; it had books, cauldrons, wands and other such rudimentary objects dangling down.

They went in and put Hallie and Harry in their cribs for a rest. James noticed that when they were laid down, they turned to look at each other and stayed like that until they closed their vivid green eyes and drifted off into a peaceful slumber. James gazed upon this scene, completely transfixed by it. He shook his head to clear his thoughts and turned to see Lily doing the same. He smiled at her and went to sit in the chair, motioning for her to sit on his lap.

"Well then, who do we inform of this? I think we can definitely tell all our friends, but who else?" James began the discussion. He had put one of his hands on Lily's lower back and the other was holding her hands in her lap.

"I agree with telling our friends; other than that, I'm not sure. I suppose your parents, and possibly Andy. What do you think?"

"My parents and Andy, yes. We'll have to make sure Andy doesn't tell anyone else though; she tends to slip sometimes when it comes to Ted. We should probably tell Molly and Arthur; their kids will be here a lot playing, I'm sure. And Mad-Eye could be trusted; that man is so paranoid about everything, he'd never let slip." James suggested a few more people he thought they could trust.

"True; I can't think of anymore. So, we've got your parents, Andy, Mad-Eye and the Weasleys. We should firecall them tonight and see if they're available last minute for supper or drinks so we can tell everyone at once. I'll go take care of that now."

Lily got up and went to the fireplace in the sitting room; it was almost always empty so it would be more private than the kitchen. James went and stood by the glass door to the balcony, looking at the grounds. He smiled when he thought about his kids growing up here; they'd never have the chance to be bored. He just stood there for a while, enjoying the scenery.

Lily came back up and told him they had all accepted the invitation for dinner tonight and that she had also flooed Dumbledore and Minnie about coming as well. James went to their bedroom to get changed for dinner; he had dressed hastily this morning in a hurry to get going.

**-Sirius' POV-**

Sirius had known that something had happened after Dumbledore left the hospital. James couldn't lie worth a damn, at least not to his friends. Sirius went down to dinner and was surprised to see a bunch of guests at the table. He looked confusedly to Dumbledore.

"James and Lily have invited us as they have and announcement to make," Dumbledore explained.

"Should have guessed," Sirius mumbled to himself, turning away from Dumbledore to find a spot to sit. He grinned and chose a spot by Minnie, as James had so diligently reminded him to call her. "Hello Minnie!"

"Oh dear Merlin, not that again!"

"Why yes, Minnie, I do believe that I called you Minnie. What's it been, six years?"

"I believe we had the lovely streak of seven going, but I suppose that's been stabbed to death. At least you're not calling me Professor Minnie; that was awkward. I don't suppose I can give you detention with Albus, either."

"You can try, I suppose. Don't know how successful you'll be, but you could definitely try." Sirius was grinning from ear to ear at Minnie's reaction to the name. "Do you know why you're all here? I mean other than the fact that Lily and James invited you?"

"Yes, Mr. Black, I do. I will not, however, be informing you."

"Wow, back to formality, are we? Well then, Professor Minnie, two can play that game." Minnie had winced at the use of her least favorite name. "So, _Professor_ Minnie, how've you been lately? Looking forward to a new batch of hoodlums?"

"Not everyone is a hoodlum _Mr. Black;_ some people manage to restrain themselves from time to time."

"Say it isn't so! People actually stop themselves from trouble-making? My world is crashing down around me! I didn't know it was possible!"

"Stop your nonsense, man. You're going to frighten your children, sounding like the world is coming to an end." She continued to mutter to herself about inappropriate behavior and whatnot. The others who lived in the house entered the dining hall shortly after Sirius' conversation with Minnie, each taking a seat and looking about for answers. The last to enter were Lily and James. All the children were in their nurseries with charms placed about them to alert the caster to any cries or disturbances.

Lily and James went to stand behind their seats and James began talking. "We'd like to thank you all for coming on such short notice; and to those who live here, sorry for not warning you. We have some information to share, but would like you to enjoy dinner first and we'll tell you afterwards over some tea. Enjoy." They both sat down and the food appeared on the table. People began eating and talking amongst themselves. Sirius didn't hesitate to get some dinner, even though he was extremely curious about this announcement; it was food and he was hungry, then again, when wasn't he?

After everyone had had their main course and their dessert, treacle tart, Tinker brought in some tea; everyone took the opportunity to thank her for such a wonderful meal. Once the tea had been passed about and everyone was settled in again, Lily and James stood up again.

"We have found something out about Harry and Hallie and we wished for all of you to know. First, even though we know we can trust you all, we must remind you that this is not to go beyond these four walls. This information is not to be shared with anyone outside this room, _ANYONE_. Yes, Andy, that means Ted." Sirius looked over to his cousin and saw her looking sheepish; apparently she had thought she might be able to tell her husband. Lily went on after that.

"When I found out I was pregnant, I didn't know it would be twins. In fact, I didn't know until I started having a second set of contractions. We talked to Albus and he told us two of James' ancestors; Lord Charles and Lady Claire. A similar thing had happened a little over three hundred years ago; a mother had gotten pregnant and the second baby didn't show up on tests." Lily paused, letting James take over.

"When they were born, they were extremely powerful with a lot of potential for magical growth still. They grew up and developed extremely high levels of magical strength as well as magical abilities not heard of for a number of decades; we'll leave exact abilities out for now. They were talented at everything they did and were gifted in many magical areas. The two grew up and got married, having children of their own. Lady Claire married a Prewett," Sirius saw Molly perk up in interest after a slight gasp, "while Lord Charles Potter married a MacDougal woman. They each had children, thus passing down the potential for a similar occurrence. I am a direct descendant of Lord Charles." Lily picked up the fascinating tale.

"When the twins were born, Albus tested their magical cores for strength and found them to be above that of a fully grown wizard or witch with room for a lot of growth. He's told us that he believes them to have similar potential to that of James' ancestors. We wanted to tell you all, because we feel we can trust you and that you should know. Harry and Hallie will some day be a wizard and witch with great powers." James picked up the announcement again.

"We have also been told by Albus," James sounded a bit miffed now, "that Voldemort," some flinches from the listeners, "may be able to sense the magic. He has put concealment charms on their magic and has strengthened the wards on our house along with some of the others good with such things. He has assured us that the two will be perfectly safe and that they should not come to any harm whilst in each others' presence; something to do with being protective of each other, extremely loyal and able to calm each other; that ought to come in useful when one of them can't sleep, they'll just calm each other down and go back to bed." James said this last with a chuckle; all the parents present knew what a treasure it would be to have someone to calm their child without them having to wake up at two in the morning.

"Anyway," Lily continued, "that's what we wanted to tell you all. If you have any questions, you can ask us or Albus. I think Minnie," Minnie winced at the name, "also knows the full extent of the situation and can answer you questions. Thank you all for being so patient with us." Lily and James sat down again, waiting for someone to ask a question.

Sirius didn't listen as people began asking questions; he just slipped into his own thoughts and began thinking about recent events and how hectic their lives had been. After Calla and Arcturus had been born, Rose and Sirius had decided to name Lily and James as the twins' godparents. Remus and Rina had been named Neville's godparents; something about responsibility. James and Lily had named Sirius and Rose Harry and Hallie's godparents; Lily had given Sirius a stern warning not to take them on his flying motorbike before they could walk and not without permission.

Sirius thought about this new revelation and what it would mean for his godchildren; they had a tough time ahead of them, hopefully they would still get to enjoy themselves. _I'll see to that, I'll make sure they get a good education in pranking and whatnot. After all, what are godparents for if not to spoil the godchildren?_

He started paying attention just as Molly asked about the Prewett line connected to the Lord and Lady.

"Well," James said, "Lady Claire married a Prewett. They had several sons. From what a family tree we saw shows, you are one of Lady Claire's descendants; I'm not sure if it's directly or not."

People continued asking questions, but Sirius wasn't paying attention; he was planning all the things he would teach his godchildren in the years to come.

**-Rina's POV-**

It was a full moon tonight so when she felt the beginnings of labor, which she knew well by now from her friends recent deliveries, she got up and started towards the stairs. She knew it would be easier to go down than up, as she'd have to go downstairs anyway, so she started down the stairs to wake up Regulus and Holly; Regulus hadn't gone with the other guys in case something happened with her or Holly, Remus of course, had no choice about going.

She figured it was about 1:30 when she knocked on their door to rouse them from their slumber. She heard light footsteps and the door opened to reveal Regulus rubbing his eyes. He looked up at her and knew the only reason she'd be up in the middle of the night. He quickly went back into the room and grabbed a pair of robes to throw on over his pajamas then went over and woke Holly up. Rina saw her stir slightly and then rise up when she heard what Regulus was saying.

Regulus came back to the door then, slipping his robes on hastily. He grabbed his wand form a dresser on his way over to her putting it in his robe pocket. He led her out of the room, down the stairs and into the sitting room. He took some floo powder and when they stepped into the fireplace he threw it down and shouted out their destination. A few seconds later, they emerged in the lobby of St. Mungo's and walked up to the front desk.

"Holly will wake and tell the others, and then someone will wait for them to get back." Regulus told her all this, trying to sound comforting.

"Thank you, for everything I know your going to go through this morning and for putting up with me." She paused for a moment as a contraction hit her; the last one had been about ten minutes ago. "Don't worry; I'll try not to break your hands." She smiled at him, joking about one of the previous deliveries. The front-desk witch got them signed in and called for a gurney to be sent down.

They went and sat down and after a few moments the others from the house were there, all but Holly, and the nurse was there to take her upstairs. She climbed onto the floating bed and was lead upstairs, her friends by her side until they got to the delivery room. Alice and Rose left for the well known waiting room while Lily and Regulus stayed by her side.

"I'm sure Remus won't miss anything important," Regulus tried to reassure her. "It's still summer so the sun rises fairly early; he should be here in a few hours."

"Yeah," Lily agreed, "he should be here really soon. Holly's at home with the kids, waiting for the guys to get back. All of the kids are still asleep though," she assured at the look Rina gave. Five babies and one witch was not a fair match, not to mention the one witch was eight months pregnant. Rina listened and decided so long as they were asleep Holly should be all right. She did decide, however, that later in the day she would instruct someone to get Holly some help when all the kids woke up and needed tending to.

The healer came in and checked her progress, asking how far apart the contractions were, when they'd started, and where was the father?

"They're about nine minutes apart," she answered, "they began at about 1 O'Clock this morning, and the father is incapacitated by the full moon." Rina finished, hoping the healer would catch the hint and grasp why Remus wasn't here. She saw the healers eyes widen slightly, but only for a second.

"Very well; I believe sunrise today is around 6:05. It's about 2:30 now. If it helps any, my own brother is…incapacitated…by the moon as well this evening. Call if you need anything."

Rina settled back against the bed. _Three and a half hours to go._ She began chatting lightly with Regulus and Lily, both of them reassuring her every so often that Remus would make it in time. They brought up the subject of names, wanting to find out what they had chosen for their daughter, but she wouldn't tell them. They began guessing very odd names, making her laugh in-between the contractions. After a while, they were just throwing out random names.

"Bartholomew, Barnabas, Boniface," Lily said. Rina shook her head, giggling madly.

"Charbel, Constantine, Cuthbert," Regulus supplied. Again Rina shook her head laughing hysterically. Another contraction came and the laughter died off her lips at once. She grimaced, the pain wasn't so bad with the potions and spells, and squeezed Regulus' hand lightly so as not to hurt it. _Two hours to go._

They moved on from 'the name game' as Regulus dubbed it and onto another, slightly awkward, topic.

"So, who are you going to name godparents?" Lily slapped him lightly on the shoulder, glaring at him. "What?"

"Use some tact; maybe she doesn't want to tell us."

"It's alright, Lily. Just his insatiable curiosity getting the better of him, again; someday he's going to be killed by that curiosity of his, like the cat in that muggle saying." She grinned at her friends' antics; Lily had hit Regulus' shoulder again, this time a little harder but with a smile instead of a glare. "We haven't decided yet, by the by. We were going to speak about it during the labor portion of the day, but seeing as Remus is…indisposed…"

"He'll get here in plenty of time, don't worry," Lily paused in her reprimanding of Regulus to reassure her friend.

"Lily, would you mind doing something for me?" _An hour and a half to go; the kids will be waking up soon._ Lily nodded her head. "I don't want Holly at home all alone with the babies; Harry and Hallie never seem to have any problems, but the others will pitch a fit if their not first in line. Would you mind sending someone over to help her; maybe Molly?" They had been getting better acquainted with the friendly matriarch as of late; she'd bring her kids over and they would stare at the newborns, being used to new children as they were. She also brought Ron, her newest son, along with to play with the babies; not that they could do much yet, but they sat by each other and made faces. Her twins, Fred and George, had just entered the stage everyone called 'the terrible twos', and since there were two of them…well, you get the picture. Everyone hoped they would outgrow this particular stage, especially Minnie.

"I suppose, she's usually up with Ron by now anyway. We've had a couple of early morning chats when Ron or Harry and Hallie woke up fussing; we always sit in the room with the floo so that if the other is up we can chat for a while. I'll go floo her now, probably should have sooner anyhow." Lily got up and walked out the door to seek out a fireplace. Regulus picked up her other hand, overtaking Lily's job.

"Finally," Regulus said, mock dramatically, "thought she'd never leave, that one." Here, he put on an air of fake relief. "Now I can have my way with you!" He pretended to be passionately absorbed in her, making her break out in hysterical laughter again. She decided to play along for a few moments; entertainment at this point was a golden treat.

"Why, good sir, I'm shocked at you! Do you not want to speak of our love to the world?" She pretended to be offended.

"I shall yell it from the mountaintops, if that is what thou wishes."

At this point, she couldn't hold in her laughter any more and she started laughing, unable to stop herself.

Regulus donned a look of outraged pain. "Thine own lady doth reject me! What shalt I do with myself, without thou to love?" He began laughing then as well, unable to keep up the pretense any longer.

"Did you ever consider acting?" she asked him after recovering from her fits and gales of laughter.

"Why yes, young lady, I did. I'm a regular John Wayne, if you hadn't noticed." He tried using an American Western accent, but failed miserably.

"Nah, I think you should stick to Shakespeare. More classical, it suits your personality."

Rina began wincing again, latching onto Regulus' hands and holding them tightly in her own. There was a white hot poker in her back, pushing its way through to her stomach. It was a horrible, searing pain that she wanted to end. She figured that either the contractions were getting stronger or her pain potions were wearing off; another daunting thought, it could be both. She didn't dwell on the matter though; just looked at the clock quickly before pushing the button to call the nurse.

The woman came in just as the contraction eased up. Rina explained the way her contractions had come back with a vengeance. The nurse took out her wand and did several spells checking her over.

"Right, your potions have worn off. And, I'm sorry, but we can't administer any more potions; you're too far along for it to be a wise move anymore. The contractions will begin to increase in strength, intensity and frequency. There's nothing more we can do for a while; when the contractions get to be about five minutes apart call for me though." She walked over to the door and left.

Rina checked the clock again; _a half hour until sunrise_. She silently prayed to whatever God there was that Remus would make it in time. She turned to Regulus and smiled briefly before the door opened and Lily walked in.

"I've asked Molly to help Holly with the children. They took all the kids with, much to their dismay at the early hour; all but Fred and George that is. They were sitting there smiling and clapping their hands."

"So, Arthur, Bill, Charlie, Percy, the twins and Ron all went with her to the house to help Holly. I'm guessing the older children will be sleeping in various guest rooms by now, but the twins and Ron were wide awake." They continued to talk for a bit; when Rina looked up at the clock, she saw it was now 6:10. Remus had changed back five minutes ago and would be getting back to the house anytime.

She immediately brightened at the thought of seeing her husband soon. Another contraction came, very painful, and then five minutes later another came so she called for the nurse. The nurse began shooing Regulus out, saying that unless he was the father he had to leave; Lily got to stay because the nurse didn't want to argue with the red-head who had also been a patient of hers a week or so ago. The nurse brought in the healer, who told her to begin pushing at the next contraction. Rina didn't want to without Remus there, but did as she was told. Lily was sitting by her bed, holding her hand. Rina pushed with a strength she hadn't known she possessed. Halfway through the second contraction and set of pushing, the door burst open and Remus ran in. Even through her pain, Rina smiled; glowing with happiness. He ran up to her and took her second hand off of the bedrail she had been holding onto.

"Just a few more pushes Rina and you'll be done. Keep up the good work." The healer was trying to keep her from giving up, as many mothers grew too tired to continue, but she needed no more support than Remus being right beside her. After four more pushes, their daughter was born and taken to be checked over and cleaned off.

"Here you are Mr. and Mrs. Lupin, your daughter. Eight pounds, nine ounces; 16 inches tall and all fingers and toes in tact. We'd like to get the paperwork done with straight away, if you don't mind; we have a lot of other patients delivering today. She was born at 6:32 a.m. on the morning of August 7th, 1980. Do you have a name chosen?"

"Yes, Lucinda Elayna Lupin. E-L-A-Y-N-A," she spelled out for the nurse. "Is that all?"

"Yes; we have the other information stored elsewhere or you wouldn't know it. Congratulations. Healer Jones will be back in a jiff to see how you're doing." The nurse got up and left.

"Where are the others?"

"They're in the waiting room. How are you? I'm so sorry I wasn't there for everything." He looked at her with an apologetic face, showing he was sincere.

"It's not your fault; besides, you got here, didn't you?" He nodded reluctantly, agreeing that he couldn't have done anything. "Now, about this business of choosing godparents; I was thinking of Regulus and Holly, they're responsible and will no doubt take good care of Lucinda should anything happen. Besides, Regulus was so helpful today."

"I agree." He concurred and his gaze shifted from his wife to his daughter.

"Here, why don't you hold her?" Rina handed their daughter to Remus and he took her cautiously. They sat that way for a while, their friends coming in to visit after a bit. They talked about what had gone on at the house. Apparently, once Remus had transformed back he had run to the house. He had sensed something was happening with Rina, an ability werewolves have is to sense their 'mates' current condition. He had guessed she was in labor, as the baby was due any day, and had run straight past Holly and to the floo. He had gotten here and run up to find her at once, not bothering to stop and ask for assistance.

Rina was released from the hospital two days later and was relieved to be going home. The next couple of weeks consisted of Rina getting used to waking at 5:00 a.m. to feed Lucinda; she couldn't complain to much though, because Luci always went to sleep easily and she rarely woke up during the night. She felt rather blessed, really, because her daughter was such a good sleeper at such a young age; Calla and Arcturus woke up constantly during the night during their first month home.

**-Holly's POV-**

Order meetings had gotten to be more frequent, as of late. There was one nearly every other day, reporting deaths and so on. Molly had been coming over nearly everyday after breakfast to talk with the other mothers about various things. Andy had brought Dora around as well, so she could play with some children her own age for a time.

It was a Saturday in early September, the fourth in fact, that there was such a meeting being held at the house. Everyone had come; the Weasleys, the Tonks', Hogwarts professors, a group of Aurors, and many other new members of the group. Dumbledore was in a corner trying to talk to Sirius and Lily about something; there wasn't much use in being private though, everyone knew what it was about.

Severus Snape had apparently gone to Dumbledore and 'repented' for what he had done as a Death Eater, asking for forgiveness and offering to be a spy. Dumbledore had accepted willingly, saying that he believed the former Death Scum. Dumbledore had asked Lily and Sirius to let Snape in, reasoning that he wouldn't be able to reveal their location, but Sirius wouldn't even listen. Lily had heard what Dumbledore said, then refused his request; she said she didn't want him in her house with her children. With that backing, Sirius had managed to get Dumbledore to give up; temporarily.

He was at it again though, but it was a pointless attempt; trying to get Sirius to let a man he loathed into his house with his wife and children, anybody but Dumbledore would have been on a suicide mission. Sirius was fuming now, his face red and his eyes barely discernable slits. He was waving his arms about erratically, nearly knocking Lily in the face; she took a step to the side to avoid his flailing arms. When Dumbledore responded calmly, Sirius snorted and then walked away. Dumbledore shook his head and turned to Lily, trying to talk with her. He began, but she shook her head and walked away as well. Dumbledore sighed and walked to the head of the table and sat down, pinching the bridge of his nose. Holly felt that if Snivellus, as the boys called him, would betray his oaths to the Death Scum, then why would he be inclined to keep the ones made to the Order? She didn't trust him, not one bit, but she kept that to herself and let the others deal with him. She thought that if Dumbledore wanted him admitted so badly, that he could have private meetings with the git and get information off him then. There was no reason to bring him to their home. Dumbledore stood up to begin the meeting so Holly went and sat beside Regulus at the opposite end of the table, near the door. "We have a few new members to induct…" Dumbledore went on to induct the Bones' and the Prewett brothers; Gideon and Fabian. Once they were done, Dumbledore continued on. Holly was feeling slightly uncomfortable, and all of a sudden she felt a warm wetness beneath her.

"Oh dear Merlin," she gasped. Everyone turned to stare at her, but she ignored them and turned to her husband who was looking at her inquisitively. "My waters just broken!"

"But the babies aren't due for two more weeks!" Sirius exclaimed.

"Yes, well, they want out now, not in two weeks!" she replied.

Regulus jumped into action, having been through this particular process four times already he knew what to do. He helped her into the floo and they left for St. Mungo's. The others in the Order had gotten up and followed them to the sitting room fireplace. A few seconds later and she was in the lobby of the hospital being admitted. The contractions were coming on rather close together and with surprisingly little pain. It wasn't as bad as she would have thought; a slight pressure on her back and a prodding feeling in her abdomen, but not much else. She timed the contractions and was surprised to see they were only four minutes apart. Just then, a nurse came down with a floating bed and instructed her to get on. Regulus followed beside her, telling the nurse what he knew. They looked to her when it came to the part about how far apart the contractions are.

"Four minutes, approximately." She answered them, receiving panicked looks.

"She's about to deliver any moment, Mr. Black. Are you sure her water only broke a few moments ago?"

"Yes; we were at a meeting with some friends and it broke, I immediately brought her here. How are you feeling, dear? Is the pain bad?" he sounded concerned.

"No actually," she smiled. "It isn't any worse than my monthly. In fact, I can barely feel any pain at all. I think my mother told me she had a similar labor and delivery; very quick and almost painless. Tends to run in the family, I guess."

Regulus looked, was that relief on his face? It must be, as he sighed the next moment and looked back at her smiling.

"So, godparents," he said. "Who shall we name?"

"I think Frank and Alice; they're both very responsible and everyone else has godchildren."

"Right-o; I think you're right there, love. We'll tell them later on."

They entered the room to be greeted quickly by the healer before long Holly was being checked over. "Amazing, simply amazing; you say you barely feel any pain at all?" Holly nodded, smiling at Healer Struthers. "Most remarkable, really it is. You need to start pushing, my dear. It shouldn't be long at all." The healer wasn't mistaken; it took four pushes and the first baby was born. Two more minutes and one push later and the second was joining the first at the table, being cleaned off and checked over. They were given to Holly and Regulus by the healer, who was shaking his head disbelievingly. "Someone will be in shortly to fill out the paperwork and I believe you have friends waiting to see you. Never before, simply amazing…" the healer was muttering on his way out.

Soon after, the witch who was filling out the paperwork came in. "Date; September 4th, 1980. Time; 7:36 and 7:41 p.m. Names?" she looked at the couple questioningly.

"Mira Isla Black, as the first born, and Carina Vega Black as the second born." Holly answered the woman, not looking up from her daughters' faces. The woman continued working and then set off when she was finished. Shortly after her departure came the arrival of their friends. The group talked for an hour or so, before the healer came in.

"We will be releasing you later this evening, Mrs. Black. Since your labor went so quickly and you were hardly drained by it, we see no reason to keep you; most of the time after is to be spent resting, but I get the feeling you'd be bored silly. We have your release papers all worked out, you just have to sign them and then you can be on your way after a few tests on the children."

"Thank you," Holly said as the man left. She turned to her friends and smiled. "We've decided on Frank and Alice as godparents, for all those wondering." Frank and Alice smiled at them excitedly. The entire group was there; Molly had offered to watch the children, insisting she would be alright. The meeting had been temporarily adjourned, to be continued the next day and everyone who was on good terms with the group, nearly everyone, was waiting at the house to hear back about the happenings of the evening.

After the nurse had come and checked the babies out, Holly had signed her release papers and been released. They walked down to the lobby and flooed home; bubble-head charms on the newborns heads. When they stepped out, Holly and Regulus last with the twins, they were bombarded with congratulations. People were coming up and giving them hugs, being careful of the children.

The Order members stayed for a short while before heading out at about 9:30. Molly stayed though, sending Arthur home with the children, as did Andy, also sending Ted back to their Hogwarts room with Dora. The two matriarchs sat and chatted with Holly, asking her about the delivery. She told them of how the healer was surprised at how easy it had gone for her. They shook their heads and smiled, thinking how lucky she was for such an easy delivery. They talked for a couple more hours before the day caught up with Holly and she went to bed, bringing the twins up to the nursery. She looked at them as she set them down in their cribs, absolutely thrilled about their addition to the household.

**_A/N: Yeah, I know, long. And yeah, I know, the last birth wasn't exactly realistic; but it could happen. Sorry it took me so long, like I said…family stuff. The next chapter may take some time as well, but it will have Tonks' firs trip to Camp Lily in it. Lots of firsts coming up, actually; what do you expect with eight babies? Hope the chapter wasn't to terribly long for you all. As always, reviewing is welcome. _**


	12. Heaven and Hell

Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter, do you think I would be writing FanFiction? Didn't think so; I am not the owner of the recognizable characters, places, ideas, etc… I shall never own Harry Potter, unless I win the lottery and purchase him from J.K. in a strange takeover situation; but I highly doubt she's selling, anyway.

**IMPORTANT: For all of you following the story, I screwed up last chapter a bit; the part about naming godparents. I went back and changed it, but to save you all time the godparents are as follows: Remus & Rina godparents to Neville, Lily & James godparents to Callidora & Arcturus, Sirius & Rose godparents to Harry & Hallie, Frank & Alice godparents to Mira & Carina and Regulus & Holly godparents to Lucinda. Also, I said before that Ted was a muggle; he is not, he's just muggleborn. You can forget the part about him needing special spells to see Hogwarts and what-not. Sorry for the confusion!**

**WARNING: This chapter contains a slight torture scene; while it may not be that bad, I just thought I'd warn you anyway. It's in Alice's POV if you want to avoid it, but it's really not that bad and the rest of the POV is very important so you should read it.**

**Chapter 11: Heaven and Hell**

_Song: Far Away_

_By: Nickelback_

**-James' POV-**

James was sat in the living room with Lily, Hallie and Harry. It was about four days until they would leave for their vacation and they were all looking forward to the trip. They were playing peek-a-boo; or, rather, James was playing with the kids while Lily watched. They had been playing for a few hours, but it never seemed to get old. Cover your eyes, say 'where'd you go' a few times in a mock-confused voice, and then take your hands down, smile and say 'peek-a-boo, I see you'. It was highly entertaining to watch the twins' reactions. Harry would giggle and Hallie would squeal in delight, their faces crinkling up with laughter.

"You know, I'd bet anything they both make prefect then Heads; it only makes sense, doesn't it? I can't wait to see what they're going to accomplish; it will be simply amazing, what with their magical ability and their smarts. It's going to be amazing." Lily said, sliding off the couch and onto the floor with the others, taking Hallie in her arms. "My little Head Girl, she's going to do so well."

"And Harry, don't forget future Head Boy and Gryffindor Quidditch Captain. He'll be just like his dad, and Hallie will be just like you; smart, beautiful, fun, everything. Hogwarts won't know what hit it when these two get there."

"You got that right; they won't know what to do with themselves with eight Mini-Marauders running about. How ever will Minnie cope with it all?" Lily said with fake sarcasm in her voice. "I can't wait to take them shopping for wands and their school books and robes. It'll be wonderful, won't it?" she had changed her tone to one of wonderment and excitement.

"That it will; of course, we'll have to get them quidditch gear as well, they'll have to be properly equipped. Oh, and think of their first time to Florean's. All that ice-cream, they won't know what to do with themselves." They both laughed; the twins had been given a bit of ice cream one day when Sirius had wanted to see what they'd make of it. They had both enjoyed it, apparently, as both had wanted more.

"I wonder what their first words will be; Harry's will probably be something to do with Sirius, with the amount of time the man spends with him. Hallie is more of a mystery; I think she's going to be a daddy's girl though."

"You think? That would be great, I just hope Harry isn't a momma's boy; we don't need him getting picked on by Sirius' kids." James chuckled at the thought; his and Sirius' kids would be growing up together and would probably be best friends like James and Sirius were. James stood up then. He lifted Harry up and began tossing him gently into the air and catching him. Harry smiled and giggled madly, enjoying his flight. "He's a natural born flyer, this one. He'll have no problems on a broom; I'll have to start teaching him soon, not that he'll need much instruction." James was grinning broadly at the prospect of passing on some of his knowledge to his children. He bent over and took Hallie from Lily, giving her Harry. "Let's see how she does," James began doing the same thing. Hallie lifted her arms up above her head and laughed and squealed with joy. "Her as well then; we've got ourselves a quidditch team in the making here."

Lily laughed at James' fantasizing. "So long as they're both happy and healthy, then I'll be good."

"Yeah; the rest of the stuff is just bonuses." James put Hallie down next to Harry, sitting up against the couch. James was watching his children attempt to play peek-a-boo with each other.

They had mastered the fine art of rolling over a few weeks ago; the first few nights they were able to do it, Lily had panicked thinking that they would roll over in their sleep and smother themselves. As a result of that fear, they had slept without anything but one blanket for a week until Lily felt they would be safe with other things in their cribs again. The two stopped playing peek-a-boo and were now looking at the TV stand in the corner of the room.

Hallie began rocking back and forth, like she was trying to propel herself forward. Harry started trying to 'help' her by putting his hands on her back. She eventually managed to get forward onto her hands and knees. Harry then started doing the same thing until he too was on his hands and knees. Lily and James just watched, wondering what new development would occur and what their children were up to.

Harry and Hallie began crawling, their first time ever, towards the TV stand. Lily and James were grinning profusely now; their children had just learned to crawl. When they reached the cabinet, they began to reach up for something. James looked and saw their rattles. He was just getting up to grab them, as they were out of the reach of the two babies, but they began floating down. James, shocked by this, turned to look at Hallie and then Harry. The little boy had stopped trying to get up and had a determined look on his face. Hallie had stopped trying to reach the rattles by now. Both of the rattles landed in front of Harry, and then Hallie got the same concentrated look and one of them levitated over to her.

"What in the name of Merlin was that?" James asked.

"Their magic is starting to develop. Dumbledore did say about three or four months, so I suppose it's natural; well, natural for them. We should firecall him; he wanted to hear when their magic began to develop." Neither Lily nor James wanted to go though, so they resolved to tell him the next time they saw him. They figured it could wait because nobody had been hurt and it was a simple enough bit of magic.

Lily and James sat there for a while, watching their children play. They sat like that for an hour or so, watching as Harry or Hallie would levitate something over to them if they couldn't reach it. The two adults were mesmerized by the control the twins seemed to possess over their magic already. It was a short while later that Lily spoke.

"I think they're ready for a nap, they're starting to rub at their eyes." Lily and James took them upstairs to the nursery. Lily took them both in her arms and sat in the rocking chair, gently rocking back and forth and singing softly.

_Baby mine don't you cry;_

_Baby mine dry your eyes._

_Rest your head;_

_Close to my heart;_

_Never to part;_

_Baby of mine._

James was sitting next to them on the floor, leaned up against one of the cribs, listening raptly. Lily was so beautiful, his children were wonderful. This was a perfect moment; one that James would treasure all his life. He mentally took a picture of the scene, memorizing everything about it; what the room looked like, what it smelled like, what Lily and the kids were wearing, how she sounded. Her voice, a gentle caress, continued on with the song.

_Little one when you play;_

_Pay no heed what they say._

_Let your eyes sparkle and shine;_

_Never a tear;_

_Baby of mine._

James was absolutely enthralled; he couldn't explain why, but he was captivated by the scene and he never wanted it to end. He was smiling broadly, looking forward to many more moments like this one. He often missed the times Lily sang to their children, but he vowed to be there every time from now on; he didn't want to miss another moment like this one.

_If they knew all about you;_

_They'd end up loving you to._

_All those same people who scold you;_

_What they'd give just for the right to hold you._

James was beginning to drift off now as well. While Harry and Hallie could sleep through the night, Mira and Carina were still having difficulties making it the whole night and those two could wake the dead with their screaming if they tried; not to mention Neville was slightly colicky and had been sleeping at odd intervals and screaming when he was awake. James was being lulled by the music and enjoying every moment of it. It was so peaceful just then, at that place. He wanted to stay in his peaceful haven with Lily and their children, leaving the war wrought world to the others.

_From your head down to your toes;_

_You're not much goodness knows._

_But you're so precious to me;_

_Sweet as can be;_

_Baby of mine._

By the time Lily had finished the song, the children had fallen asleep. James smiled at the pure blissfulness of the scene. He got up, slightly dazed, and took Hallie from Lily to put her in her crib. He smiled down at his daughter, adding to his memory just how perfect she was, laying there with her eyes closed and a slight smile on her face, wrapped up in her blanket and cuddling a teddy bear. He and Lily switched places at the cribs, as they did whenever they put the kids to bed together.

He walked over to Harry's crib and watched his son sleep. Another addition to his perfect memory was added; that of his son covered by a blanket, sleeping peacefully, with a stuffed dog, a smile firmly in place on his face. He couldn't help but be soothed by the sight. He and Lily walked got up, closed the curtains and turned on a nightlight. On their way out, they closed the door gently so as not to disturb the children.

They went back down to the living room, both smiling contentedly. This was more than they ever could have hoped for when they began their lives together; blissful, peaceful, joyous lives with their friends, children, and each other. They sat down on the couch, Lily putting her head in James' lap and James putting his arm loosely around her neck. They sat in silence for a while, enjoying the peace and quiet that was hard to come by nowadays. The silence was broken by James, who got curious about their friends' whereabouts.

"Where _did_ everyone get off to anyway?" he asked his wife, who always seemed to know everything.

"Frank, Alice and Neville went out to lunch with Mrs. Longbottom; they won't be back until after supper." It seemed that James wouldn't be disappointed in Lily's extreme wealth of knowledge. "Rose, Sirius, Calla and A.P. went to Hogwarts to visit Andy and Ted, Dora loves playing with the kids, they also won't be back until after dinner; Remus, Rina and Lucinda are at Rina's parents, they'll be spending the night I think; and Regulus, Holly, Mira and Carina are visiting Holly's parents' house, Regulus wants them to know some of their biological grandparents, they'll also be gone for the night. That sums it up, I guess. You know what that means?" Lily had a devilish look on her face, and the mischievous grin currently spreading itself across James' face matched it perfectly.

"We have the house all to ourselves until the kids wake up. I say we put it to good use," James wriggled his eyebrows suggestively. Even though they were extremely tired, they still liked to make time for each other. James leaned down and gently placed a kiss upon each of Lily's ears, and then he moved to her forehead, trailing down to her eyes next. He placed another kiss on her nose, then on each of her cheeks and finally on her lips. They stayed like that for a while, enjoying the shared moment and not wanting it to be broken by movement.

"Let's go upstairs," Lily suggested when they finally had to break.

"Too far, let's just stay here," James countered.

"And if someone comes in?"

"Then they can sod off."

"Upstairs, James, or this will stay a snog session."

"I'm too tired to go all the way upstairs. Let's just stay here; we have hours before anyone is expected home and we should enjoy that time."

"Not like that down here, we won't."

"Wait, I have an idea to suit the both of us." He pulled out his wand and said a silent spell, aiming it at the ceiling. Not a moment later, something silvery was floating down the stairs. It was James' invisibility cloak. James smirked at his ingenious idea, but quickly changed it to a mock-serious face. "What do you say, all or nothing; completely invisible to all but Alastor."

"It does have a certain amount of appeal, I must say that. But still, what if…"

"That's what the privacy wards will be for; they'll alert us if someone comes into the house. This shouldn't be this difficult, really it shouldn't. We're a married couple in our own house; our own _empty_ house."

Lily didn't need any further prompting than that statement and she didn't say anything back, just began kissing James. She sat up, grabbed the cloak with one hand while firmly holding onto James' hair with the other. She leaned into him and pushed him back into the couch, throwing the cloak over them, making James grunt in surprise. They began stripping each other of all clothing that would take away from their plans; in their opinion, this meant all of their clothes came off. They barely stopped kissing to carry out the act of disrobing each other. They were just about to move on from kissing to something more pleasurable, when one of the secrecy sensors went off.

They both froze, not knowing who was coming. Lily began putting on some of her more basic clothing on the off chance it was Moody. She had her jeans back on, and was moving towards her top as discreetly as she could manage, when Mrs. Longbottom came in.

"Is anyone home?" she called out.

Lily slipped on her shirt and pulled out from under the cloak, leaving James covered as he still had to dress. She made it look as though she had just woken up from a nap on the couch. Pretend yawning, she popped her head up to address the woman.

"What's the problem, Mrs. Longbottom? Weren't you out to lunch with Frank, Alice and Neville?" It was then that Lily noticed Neville being cradled in his grandmother's arms.

"I was, but there was an attack. Frank and Alice fought some Death Eaters; it seems that there was a break in at Azkaban last night. Well, that Lestrange woman was there with her husband and his brother. Nasty business, nasty business; she attacked my Frank, and when Alice saw she went to finish the fight but she was attacked as well. They're at St. Mungo's right now, being treated. I'm not sure how they are yet; first I owled Dumbledore then I came here."

Lily had gasped when she heard her friends had been attacked. James, at least, had the sense to keep quiet and stay covered; he knew Lily wouldn't want to have to answer questions just then. She had gotten up, and he guessed walked over to Mrs. Longbottom; he couldn't see much of anything as he was still trying to wrestle himself into his jeans and remain under the cloak and silent. _When did spending personal time with your wife become such a hard task?_

"Why don't you go to the hospital and leave Neville with us. You can go see how Frank and Alice are doing; we'll take care of him. It's nap time anyway, so it shouldn't be a problem. We'll work on contacting the others as well."

"Thank you Lily that would be most helpful. I'll be going now." James heard some shuffling of feet and guessed that it was safe for him to come out of his hiding spot. He took off the cloak and sat up, searching for his shirt in the many folds of invisible fabric. He looked up and saw Mrs. Longbottom trying to suppress a laugh. She shook her head at him.

"You don't have to explain anything to me, sonny; I know exactly where you're coming from. Why, I remember sometimes when Frank was a small one, Mortimer and I would…" she trailed off, shaking her head; much to the relief of James. "Well, you don't want to be hearing about an old woman's love affairs. Your wife went upstairs to tend to Neville; I was just about to leave when I thought maybe I should go check on him one last time. I'll leave that to you; so long." She left the room chuckling and shaking her head. _Well, at least someone else has a sense of humor at times like this and it's not just me and Sirius._

James went up to see how Lily was faring after the news. He found her in Neville's nursery, singing to him with tears in her eyes. He went over and knelt down in front of her, placing a hand on her knee. "They'll be alright, love." He kissed her cheek softly and brushed the tears from her eyes with his thumb.

He got up and went to contact the others then, leaving Lily to take care of Neville. Sirius and Rose would be told by Dumbledore once he received the owl, so he went to fire-call Holly's and Rina's parents' houses. Once that was done, he went back upstairs to Harry and Hallie's nursery; he stopped to make sure Lily was alright on the way up. He found them awake, looking at each other as though they were having a conversation; _I suppose they could be, with all the different powers they posses, why not conversations with each other mentally._

He took them out of their cribs and brought them down to where Lily and Neville were; she was reading to him now, so he sat down with their kids and listened in. Once Lily had concluded _Goodnight Moon_, Neville was asleep. She put him in his bed and cast a monitoring charm to be sure she would know if anything amiss happened. They went downstairs again, the atmosphere completely different from that mornings.

"What did the others say?" Lily asked.

"Regulus said to keep them updated, but that they couldn't leave yet; Holly's mum has taken them hostage and barely let him answer the firecall, she misses Holly. Remus said that they'd be here shortly; they have to scour the house for all the toys and other things they brought. I didn't bother calling Sirius and Rose, because they'll get the message from Dumbledore, but they should be coming home anytime now as well. However, I should firecall the school to ask if there'll be a meeting so we can set up." He got up without another word and went to do just that.

"Albus, should we set up for a meeting?" James asked his old headmaster once his head was in the office.

"If you could James that would be lovely. I'll send out the message to everyone; the usual crowd, if you could be prepared for them, should be there within the half hour."

James pulled his head out of the fire and took a moment to let the spinning sensation currently taking place in his head cease. He got up and called in Tinker, asking her to prepare some food and drinks. He then went to the dining hall to conjure up the extra chairs. Once that was done, people had started to arrive. Andy, Ted, Sirius and Rose were there first. Ted wasn't a member, but he watched all the little ones. He had considered joining, but had thought better of it.

"What's this about Frank and Alice?" Sirius asked.

"There was a break in at Azkaban. Apparently, they were attacked by our dear Bella." James answered them, grinning when Andy scoffed at her sister's name. "Ah yes, I believe you know her, don't you?"

"Bugger off you sod; you know how I feel about my genetically forced relatives." She seemed upset about something though, so James wasn't surprised when Sirius spoke up.

"It's not your fault Bella's a crazed lunatic. It's your mothers; hell, _my_ mother probably had a good deal to do with the lunacy of your sister, definitely more so than you." He always tried to make a joke, which generally helped with this particular person.

"I know that, it's just I feel I could have done more, you know? You and Regulus got on well enough once you talked, why couldn't I do the same with Bella or Cissy?"

"Because, they are crazed, pureblood-minded lunatics who don't care about anyone but themselves and their crazed, pureblood-minded fanatic husbands; you couldn't have done anything more than what you did; you set an example and it's their own damn fault they didn't follow it," Ted assured her.

"That's true, you know. You set a wonderful example; it couldn't have been much better, what with running away and marrying a man the whole lot of them disapproves of, you were a great example for anyone just willing to look at the signs." Sirius always had to add the sarcastic comment; even though this one was true, it was still said sarcastically. However, it did seem to do the trick and Andy was soon smiling.

**-Alice's POV-**

Mildred, Frank's mother, had insisted upon taking them out to lunch so they could visit and catch up. They had gone to The Wizard's Wand, a place in Hogsmeade, to get some lunch. They had just ordered their food, and were sitting talking.

"So, what have you been up to lately Mildred? It's been a while since we saw you; the meetings have been getting further and further apart, it seems." Alice inquired of her mother-in-law, knowing that Mildred would understand what Alice meant by meetings.

"Oh, not too much; just some work around the house. It's nothing to exciting. What about you, how's my grandson been faring?"

"Well, in fact. He's already rolled over and sat up by himself. He's sleeping through the night and he gets on well with the others. He's had a slight touch of colic, but nothing to serious. Things couldn't be going better," Frank answered.

"That's nice. Remind me again, who are the other children?"

"Holly and Regulus had twins named Mira and Carina, Remus and Rina had a daughter named Lucinda, Sirius and Rose had twins named Callidora and Arcturus and Lily and James had twins named Harry and Hallie. It's not as difficult as you might think having all the kids in the house though; all ten of us stay at home and we have two house elves that do a wonderful job cooking and cleaning. I think it's good for Neville to grow up in a family environment with lots of children his age; it'll be good for him." Alice gave Mildred a quick, to the point, run-down of how the house was run; Mildred liked to know these things, and even though she already knew most of this information, she asked as a way to make sure all was still well.

Alice heard a loud clanking noise, and looked around for the cause of the disturbance. She had handed Neville to his grandmother a bit ago so she could hold him; she rarely got to see him at all. There was a second noise, just like the first, and Alice found that it was coming from the kitchen. She pulled her wand out and got up, keeping the wand hidden in the folds of her robes. She walked over to the kitchen door, Frank following her.

He stepped in front of her and pushed the door open a crack to see what the noise was; it wasn't ordinary kitchen noises, that was for sure. After examining the room, he shut the door again and turned to her.

"Death Eaters, at least twenty of them and Lestrange is with them."

"Which Lestrange?" there were three of them, so Alice felt justified in asking; even if it seemed obvious.

"All of them; they've attacked the staff. We need to get in there and stop them." He raised his wand and conjured a patronus; after he sent it off, he turned back to Alice. "I've sent warning to Mad-Eye; he should be here shortly. Until then, we need to hold them off." She nodded her head in understanding and raised her wand, pointing it at the door.

Frank pushed open the door discreetly, to see what the situation was like again. Alice prepared herself for a fight, not wanting to be caught off guard. "I think it'd be best if we waited for back-up, we'd be overtaken quickly," Frank said. Again, she nodded her agreement. This was why they worked so well together, they came to the same conclusions about what to do so they didn't often fight over what needed to be done.

Before anything else could happen though, the door from the kitchens flew open to reveal several menacing figures. It seemed the Death Eaters didn't care about being found out. They began firing spells in random directions, hitting many of the civilians sitting about the place. Alice hoped Mildred had taken Neville someplace safe so they wouldn't be hurt.

Frank and Alice responded to the spell-fire with stunners and leg-lockers, anything they could think of to debilitate their enemy without wasting time they didn't have. Some of the figures began moving about the room, cursing the other occupants of the restaurant. Alice got lost in all the spells and people; she couldn't see anything except the person in front of her.

She took down four or five of the attacking figures and turned to find another. What she saw made her blood freeze. Bellatrix and Rodolphus Lestrange had Frank cornered. He was trying to stun them, but they blocked his every attempt. They kept closing in on him, until they were a mere four feet from him.

Alice watched, frozen in horror, as the pair began to torture her husband with the cruciatus. They both put it on him making him writhe in pain. They didn't let up though; they held the spell for what seemed an eternity. Rabastan, Rodolphus' brother, went over and joined in; he, too, cast the torture curse on her beloved Frank. By now, Frank was a writhing ball of mess. His ribs would be breaking by now, she knew, and they would begin to puncture his skin. If they held the spell much longer, he would probably go insane from it.

That thought shook her mind from its haze and made her move to help. She shouted to the Death Eaters, and they turned to her. They held the curse while they looked, but when they saw who it was, they pulled it off of Frank and cast it on Alice.

She fell to the floor, writhing violently. She tried to fight the white hot pain, to push away the millions of needles stabbing her everywhere they could, but she was trapped in the hell of the curse. She felt as if she were being stabbed hundreds of times over. The pain was relentless, it wouldn't stop and she couldn't ignore it. She cried out, not being able to stop the scream of agony from escaping her lips.

She hoped Frank would be alright, and that Neville was safe from this place. Her muscles were spasming from the continued use of the curse, as that was all this could be called; a curse. She was screaming at the top of her lungs, now. All of a sudden, she fell silent. She had felt a sharp pain in her chest, different from the pain caused by the curse. She knew at that moment that some of her ribs must have broken. At first, she had squeezed her eyes shut in an attempt at distracting herself from the pain, but now that she had opened them again she couldn't see.

She had been blinded by the pain and she wasn't sure if she would survive the torture long enough to find out if her eyes could be healed. She couldn't scream anymore, either, as her voice had gone from her after all the intense shrieks and yells and the pain in her chest was simply to intense to let her do anything but breathe very shallowly. She was still shaking about though, jostling her broken ribs and making the pain worse. She couldn't do anything to relieve it, she couldn't even scream to express her agony anymore and she could barely breathe.

Then, she lost herself in an attempt to subdue the pain. She was in complete darkness, nothing around her. She couldn't hear her heavy panting or the maniacal laughter of her torturers anymore, there was only silence. She wondered if she were dead, but thought that couldn't be because she still felt the torturous agony her body was in. In this place though, she had a different body; it held the same appearance, but it was unscathed. She was curious as to why she could feel the pain, but not be marked by it. And why couldn't she hear or see anything, either? The questions were flooding her mind, it was as if a dam had just broken, releasing her queries.

She tried standing up, not that there was much difference from sitting down in this dark, quiet place. She stood up and found herself firmly on the ground, or as firm as you could get without know what was under you and how long it would last. She began to pace, thinking about what could possibly be happening to her.

She thought she remembered Moody telling the class something about extreme situations of torture one day. Something about how some person had been held under the Cruciatus to long and had retreated to their mind, trying to find safety. She couldn't remember much, but she did remember him saying that the person never left their mind; they stayed in their own head until the day they died, having lived as an invalid the rest of their lives, barely able to move. Alice wondered briefly, if that was going to happen to her and Frank; if they would become lost in their minds, unable to leave. She felt a wave of grief over what could happen, and she collapsed to the ground and sobbed.

She sobbed for a long time, unable to overcome her grief. When she had finished, she noted a few changes in her situation. The pain had lessened; her chest wasn't burning as it had been and the needles had retreated. She supposed that Moody had gotten there and put a stop to the torture and that she had been taken to St. Mungo's and healed; or so she hoped. She hoped they'd found Frank in time, and that she had stopped the others in time enough to spare his sanity.

She sprawled herself out, spread eagle, on the 'ground' and decided to sleep; she had nowhere else to go, did she? She dreamed of the restaurant and what had happened. When she got to the part about her screaming at the Death Eaters, she woke up in a cold sweat and cried some more.

She didn't know how long she had been trapped in her mind, or how long she would be. She silently prayed to whoever would listen, asking that they help her and Frank out of this. It was all she could do, but it didn't seem to be enough. She turned to thoughts of Neville; the first time he opened his beautiful blue eyes, the first time he smiled up at her, his face the day he was born and handed to her, how she and Frank would read to him, how he giggled when you blew on his stomach, his laugh, everything she could remember. By the end of her stream of thoughts, she was in tears again; she had remembered that if they couldn't help her, she would miss him growing up.

She was getting rather depressed by this point, having thought of Frank and of their friends. Every time she thought of a happy memory, she began thinking of how she wouldn't share anymore with them. She couldn't win for losing; it seemed she was bound and determined to be miserable in her own living hell, for she was very much alive yet. She was sobbing silently again; everything here was silent, when she saw a faint glowing of light.

She looked up and easily found the source of the welcome light in this extreme darkness. What she saw shocked her nearly as much as seeing Frank tortured had. She froze in place, not that you could really tell she had, and looked upon the figure in the light. They were moving towards her now, at a slow crawl. She brought her hands up to cover her mouth when she saw the person moving towards her.

Never had she thought they could do this, not in a million years had she thought this possible. She had known, of course, that they were extremely powerful and mightily gifted, but somehow, this never crossed her mind as plausible. She began smiling, for no matter who it was, she felt hope swell up in her at the prospect of getting out of her own mind. When they came nearer, she knelt down and picked him up; for now she knew it was him. She hoped that his sister would be helping Frank, hoped that they would both get out of this.

When Harry picked up her hand and started pulling on her finger, she let him be in case this was her way out. He continued pulling her hand and began to squirm. He couldn't walk yet, so she stood up with him in her arms and waited. He pointed in some direction, who knew which it was, and she set off walking. The steps seemed endless, as if she would walk forever.

She gladly kept going though; it wasn't like she had any better ideas. His hand lifted again and pointed another way, so she turned and walked there. This happened a few more times, until she suddenly stopped. She looked around for a moment, wondering why she had suddenly stopped, and then noticed the light forming under her feet. It was getting brighter and bigger, going from black through the different shades of grey until it reached a brilliant white.

Once it reached this stage, Harry turned to her and grasped her tear-stained robes with his pudgy little hands. That was all she had for warning before she began to fall. She cradled Harry closer to her, wondering what was happening. She kept falling, plummeting towards an unknown fate. She was beginning to get dizzy, having spun so many times during her fall.

All of a sudden, there was a great thump and she landed on her backside with Harry still clinging to her robes. She stood up, in what must be St. Mungo's. She looked down and saw that she was a ghost-like figure; transparent. She looked around her and saw two beds next to each other and in them were her and Frank's bodies. Next to Franks bed sat Mildred, who was holding Neville, and James, who was holding Hallie. The little girl appeared to be asleep, but Alice had her suspicions about what was going on in the child's mind. She looked over to her own bed and saw Lily holding Harry and Molly with Ron. The others, it seemed, had scattered around the place. Remus and Rina were talking with a healer, sad expressions on their faces; Regulus and Holly were talking to some people Alice recognized as Holly's parents from the wedding; Sirius and Rose were talking between themselves, their children asleep in their arms.

She looked down at Harry with an inquiring look, feeling slightly foolish about the whole situation, but needing to understand what was happening. He pointed over to her bed and she walked over. She saw bandages around her torso and saw that her face was a pale color with bags under her eyes. She looked to the baby again, and saw him pointing at her; or was it the bed? She wasn't sure what he wanted.

She felt the same sensation as before, when she had stopped without knowing why, and found herself lying down on the bed; on top of herself. It was, quite possibly, the oddest situation Alice had ever found herself in. She slowly relaxed into the same position as her body, letting Harry go. He crawled over to her side and sat on the bed. Alice watched him curiously, and saw him slowly fade away. She began panicking; was she supposed to remain a ghost the rest of her life?

But then, she saw the Harry in Lily's arms stir and smile at her. She relaxed and waited. She couldn't explain what happened next, only that it felt as if she was joining with something. She began feeling the pain in her chest again, but it wasn't as bad as it had been before. She closed her eyes and focused on returning to herself; odd as it sounded. She waited a good five minutes, wanting to give whatever magic was working plenty of time to do its thing.

When she opened her eyes, she blinked rapidly from the light; apparently, she had been seeing everything with a tint and it was brighter in the room than she'd thought. She felt a sudden wave of tiredness overcome her, and she yawned loudly. She heard a gasp next to her and she saw Lily leaning over her, examining her.

"Healer Chapman, I saw her yawn and her eyes are open! She's coming around!" Lily exclaimed, quickly handing Harry off to an excited Molly. She saw another person that she didn't recognize hovering over her, waving his wand, and assumed that it must be the healer Lily had called for.

"Alice, can you hear me? How do you feel? Do you understand what I'm saying?" he asked.

"Yes, I can hear and understand you. I feel fine; just a little sore and tired. How's Frank?"

"Your husband has slipped into a coma after what happened to him; you were in one as well, you had retreated into your own mind. He might never wake up, I'm sorry to say. It's a medical marvel that you woke, considering the damage done to you was far worse."

"Please, would you check on him?" she sounded worried, like she needed reassuring even though she knew he would be alright shortly. The healer left and was replaced with Mildred.

"Are you well dear? You took quite the beating back at the restaurant."

"I'll be fine, so long as they check on Frank. How's Neville, did he get hurt, did he behave?"

"He is and was fine, Alice; he behaved beautifully." Lily looked relieved that her friend had come round. "Took his nap without a problem and he hasn't cried since we brought him here."

"Nurse, nurse, get over here now; he's coming round!" she heard the shout coming from her left. Alice smiled, knowing that everything would be well now, and let herself drift off into sleep. Her last thought, before slipping off, was;_ I'll have to remember to spoil Harry and Hallie rotten for this._

**-Lily's POV-**

They had left for St. Mungo's after everyone had gone home, which was nearly eleven at night. Regulus and Holly had finally convinced her parents that they would come back. Her parents, however, had come with them to make sure of it. They got all the children together and got them ready for the trip and possibly several long hours at the hospital. They were old enough by now to be taken side-along apparition, all but Mira and Carina. Those who could, apparated to the window that was the entrance to St. Mungo's, while the rest flooed there.

They got in and asked for directions, and were sent to the proper room where they found Frank's mother silently weeping over Frank and Alice's beds. Lily went up and questioned the woman on what had happened, but got little information out of her. Holly had looked around quickly before casting some spells on the two that would tell her their condition. When she saw what the spell revealed, being the only trained medi-witch, she gasped. The others had still been in the dark as to the goings on, but Holly had recovered slightly and told them that two of their best friends were trapped in their own minds. Everyone had gasped and stiffened, the reaction was one of horror at what had happened.

"Will they be able to get out?" Sirius asked.

"It's very unlikely; when it's happened before, the patients have always remained trapped in their minds. They occasionally get up and move around, but they can't form coherent words or sentences. It's a horrible fate, worse than dying."

Everyone nodded in agreement, feeling horrible that this had happened to two such wonderful people. They all sat down around the room, getting comfortable. Lily sat with Molly, who had come with them after the meeting as well. They just sat at Alice's bedside and watched her, Harry and Ron eventually falling asleep in their arms.

It was two hours before Harry woke up; Ron was still out like a light. He smiled at the bed and Lily nearly cried; he wouldn't be held by Alice again, and there was nothing she could do about it. She wondered how all the kids would deal with the absence of two of their care-givers. She looked up when she heard someone yawning, thinking that James might need a break, but saw Alice with her mouth stretched wide open and her eyes twinkling in the light of the room.

She called for the Healer, thinking that it might be her eyes playing tricks on her, but she felt overjoyed when Alice responded to the Healers questions. Her friend was going to be alright! But, what would they tell her about Frank? She didn't get the chance to consider it, as Alice had asked the question and been answered by the Healer; the twit, she'd just woken up, couldn't he leave her be to get some rest?

When Alice asked them to check on Frank, Lily's heart nearly burst from the wave of sadness washing over her; Alice's face looked determined and hopeful, she was going to be hurt when they told her the same thing as they had before. Alice began asking her about Neville, so she answered as best she could. She was more than a little shocked, but thrilled nonetheless, when she heard the Healer yelling.

"Nurse, nurse, get over here now; he's coming round!"

Lily rushed over as well, wanting to see if Frank really was waking up as well. She noticed that James was rubbing his eyes; _guess he must have drifted off there; he was more worn than I thought_. Hallie seemed to be waking up to; she smiled at Frank and then giggled. When Lily was stood next to James and Hallie, she saw Harry and Hallie look at each other and smile broadly.

"You think they know what's going on?" James asked, having also noticed the smiles. Lily began thinking; the twins falling asleep shortly after getting here, then waking up just before Frank and Alice and smiling at the beds. _No, it couldn't be…could it?_ Her thoughts were swimming with possible reasons for the strange actions, but she couldn't come up with one that explained it half so well as her first thought. It made sense, too, the more she thought about it; they were supposed to possess certain gifts, and some of them had to do with the mind.

"I think they more than know what's happening just now; I think they did it."

"What?" James asked incredulously. "You mean, you think they pulled Frank and Alice from their minds? But how is that possible?"

"I don't know, but I intend to find out. I'm going to go speak with Dumbledore, you coming?"

"Definitely, I want to know what's going on here. Wouldn't that be something though, Hallie and Harry able to save people like that?"

Lily nodded, heading out the door for the fireplace. She quickly told Rose they were going to Hogwarts before she left the room altogether. She walked down the many halls with a determined stride until they got to the nearest fireplace; it was quicker than apparition for getting to Hogwarts. They went up to the fireplace, once they found one, and took the powder; once they had thrown it into the fire, the flames turned green and they stepped in, calling out their destination.

**-James' POV-**

They stepped out of the fire in Dumbledore's office, and saw him writing something. Without looking up, he greeted them.

"Hello Lily, James; take a seat. How can I help you?" he asked, finally looking up from his papers. His eyes were twinkling, though not as much as they usually did.

"We just came from St. Mungo's, Albus. Alice and Frank woke up, they returned to themselves a few moments ago." James saw the headmasters eyes light up with relief and happiness when he heard this. "We have a few things to talk to you about though, to do with Harry and Hallie."

"Oh yes, and what might that be?"

"Well," Lily began to explain that mornings events.

"Well, that is not unusual, as I told you before. Their magic will grow, just as their bodies will in years to come. It was a simple enough thing, but what they do will continuously become more difficult."

"That's another thing, Albus; we think they used their magic at the hospital today; if you catch my drift." James was trying to get his point across without having to say what it was; he hated to explain things, it came from having to explain everything he did to teachers or his parents growing up.

"I'm afraid I don't see James, I don't catch on as quickly as I used to. Would you please elaborate for me?" The man looked like he understood perfectly what James meant; he just wanted to hear it in greater detail from James himself. Lily, though, knew how James got uncomfortable when explaining things; how he got nervous and so on, so she took over the explanation. She told him about how she thought the twins were connected to Alice and Frank waking up, but that she wasn't sure how they'd done it.

"We'll have to talk to Alice and Frank for that part, but for the time being, I must say that I agree with your conclusions. It would appear that your children are developing their magic sooner than we thought. They also seem to have control over their magic, a great amount of it in fact. We will have to act accordingly, then."

"Albus?" James asked, not quite understanding what the man meant by 'act accordingly'.

"Oh, yes, you can't hear my thoughts, can you? I was just thinking how we'll have to focus on teaching them _when_ to use their magic, and in what ways, instead of how to control it. Control will still be a factor, but not nearly as important as teaching them when to use it."

"Oh," James said. "Right, what should we do for now?"

"Alas, there is not much you can do. We cannot begin teaching them until they are old enough to better comprehend, though to what extent their comprehension goes now I could not tell you. For now, what you can do is only what any other parent can do; teach them right from wrong and hope they understand."

Lily and James both nodded. James was more than a little frustrated that Dumbledore couldn't help them more, if he couldn't who could, but he accepted it and thanked the man for his time. The family got up to leave then; they would go back to the hospital for a spell before going home.

When they were back in the room with their friends, they found out that Frank and Alice would be released in two weeks; the healers wanted them well rested before letting them go. Lily told Alice that they would be back tomorrow. St. Mungo's wouldn't let Alice care for Neville while she was there, so Rina took over as his Godmother, promising to bring him back the next day.

They departed for the house, all happy that their friends would be alright. Once home, everyone went to the living room to watch some telly; they were all wide awake after the days events, rather than tired. They put on some comedy station, and saw a Monty Python movie; they had watched Monty Python before, but it never got old. Sirius and James especially loved the show, and the others delighted in the impressions that followed the next day.

They finally went to bed around four in the morning, having exhausted themselves laughing. Lily and James set off for the sixth floor, cursing the fact that they were on the top floor, until James remembered that _they_ could apparate _within_ the house. They each had a child, grateful for the fact that the twins were now old enough to be side-along apparated, and apparated to the nursery.

"That would have been useful so many times before, why did it take us so long to remember?" Lily asked.

"I don't know, I guess we're just forgetful; but it's all good now, we know about it and can utilize it."

They changed the twins into pajamas; Hallie had on a cute little nightdress and Harry had on some flannel pants and a t-shirt. Lily took them, once again, and sang them a song; James sat silently and watched as their children fell asleep. He began drifting off again, soothed by Lily's soft, sweet voice. He was sitting with his back up against Hallie's crib, his eyes drooping shut. The last thing he remembered before falling asleep was Lily putting the twins in their cribs and sitting down next to him and cuddling up into his chest.

**-Sirius' POV-**

Sirius was in the game room lying on the floor by the couch with Harry and Hallie crawling on his stomach. He was thinking about the past, their friends, and all they'd been through together. He sat up, and pulled the twins into a sitting position in front of him.

"Story time," he said. "Who wants Uncle Padfoot to tell them about mummy and daddy when they were little?" They both smiled and giggled, so Sirius took that as the go-ahead. "Well, when your parents met, Prongs fell madly in love with Lily-Pad; don't tell her I called her that, by the way, I've been forbidden. Anyhow, he kept asking her out; twice a day, at least. He was a real cocky guy, back then, and arrogant to. She'd say no every time, nicely enough the first few times a day but then she'd get harsh, or start hexing him."

"Well, I remember, one time in fifth year Prongs was really getting to Lily-Pad. We'd just learned a new charm in some class or other, to make a person desire the first thing they saw; whatever, or whoever, it may be. The professor warned us that if the desired target was a person, the one who it had been cast upon would become smitten for a few weeks; irreversibly. Well, Prongs had asked Lily-Pad out seven times already that fine day many moons ago, and she was holding her cool fairly well, I must say."

"She snapped, though, as all people do at some point. She was practicing the new spell and Prongs went up and started pestering her to go out with him. She decided to have a go at him, and cast the spell; she explained later that she thought he'd see me first and begin pestering me instead. Well, things didn't go as planned, did they? Minnie, that's Professor McGonagall to you, had just walked in to make an announcement. Well, you can imagine what happened when Prongs saw her." The twins gave him an inquisitive look. "Then again, maybe not."

"Prongs had closed his eyes once he heard our little Lily-Pad cast the spell. Minnie, not knowing what was going on, went over to James and asked him what was the matter. He said he was just tired, and that he was trying to rest. She didn't buy into it and told him to open his eyes unless he was in his bed. He tried to argue, telling her that he needed to rest now; but she would hear nothing of it and eventually he had to open his eyes and look at her. He was immediately taken over by the spell and started using pick-up lines on her, the corniest things you'd ever heard came out of his mouth just then."

"She was shocked, to say the least. She tried to find out what had happened, and when she saw Lily-Pad snickering she inquired as to the cause of the stranger-than-normal Prongs. Lily-Pad explained that she had been 'practicing' her homework and the spell had 'backfired' and hit Prongs. Minnie was furious, you should have seen her. The spell lasted a few weeks, Prongs would follow Minnie about everywhere she went, trying to get her to take notice of him; the poor chap, nearly everyone felt bad for him. He had proclaimed his love for her every morning at breakfast and every evening at dinner for a week before she started eating in her quarters. Lily-Pad though, was thrilled; she got a few weeks of no Prongs asking her out constantly. I think she even considered casting it again for some peace and quiet, but it never panned out. Prongs was absolutely mortified when the spell came off, as he remembered everything he'd said and done."

The twins began giggling and looking up expectantly as Sirius. "That's it for that one, kiddies." They both looked disappointed about it. "Don't worry though; I've got plenty more where that one came from." They seemed to brighten up at that. Sirius went on to tell them about all the times Lily rejected James and about how they finally got together. "You know, I won't take full credit because it would have happened eventually, but your Uncle Padfoot had a lot to do with your parents getting together."

He told them about all the times Lily and James spent together, enjoying themselves. He told about the night they got engaged, their graduation, their wedding, when they moved in here, and when they found out Lily was pregnant. Story time lasted for hours, as Sirius recapped Lily and James' lives together for his godchildren. He knew he would tell them many of the stories again, later on in their lives, but he took joy in telling them now. It was nearing nap-time when Sirius' stories came to a close for the time. He started coming up with random stories; how excited Lily got about her NEWT scores and things such as that, and before long the twins were asleep in Sirius' lap and he was drifting off as well, occasionally mumbling something about Lily or James.

When he woke up, the twins were both sitting on his stomach attempting to play peek-a-boo. He laughed and checked his watch. It was nearing six; an hour left before dinner.

"Is that the only game you two know?" he asked. They looked at him, making him feel a bit awkward, but he pushed on. "How about you let Uncle Padfoot teach you a new game. Hmmm, what to teach them, what to teach them. They can't play quidditch yet; think two four month olds. What can you do at four months? It's been so long…" He was tapping his chin pensively, his brow furrowed in concentration. It was difficult with these two to gauge their abilities; they seemed more mentally developed than the other kids; more like they understood what you were doing. He decided on a game that Rose had tried teaching to Calla and A.P., but they hadn't quite grasped it yet. He figured he'd give these two a go at it; at the very least it would pass the time.

"Alright, little ones, this one is called patty-cake; I think it is anyway, it's another one of those muggle games that your Aunty Rose taught me. What you do," he said, sitting up and placing Hallie in front of him and Harry on his lap. "It's rather simple." He began going through the motions that Rose had taught him; clap your hands together then clap the other persons hand and so on. Hallie was just holding her hands up and Sirius was guiding Harry's hands in the proper movements.

He tried to teach them until it was time for dinner, but it seemed they weren't quite ready for it. He picked them up and brought them upstairs. It was his afternoon to spend with them, and he had spent it well in his opinion. They had worked out a little schedule of sorts; every couple of days, Lily and James and Sirius and Rose would trade kids for the day. Rose would take them in the morning and Sirius would in the afternoon, some days they spent the whole day together; they rarely left the house anymore after Frank and Alice's attack though.

They had been home for a month now. The trip they'd planned to the vacation house had been canceled, to be taken another time. Sirius went up to the dining room where everyone was convening. He went and sat by Rose, who took hold of Hallie with a big smile on her face. They loved spending time with their godchildren nearly as much as spending time with their own children, who were currently being spoiled by Lily and James.

Sirius saw James put on a mock-severe face when A.P. spit-up his food; A.P. looked upset for a moment, before James smiled broadly and began tickling him. A.P. laughed and giggled; he and Calla were almost five months old now. It was the 25th of November, and things had started to get back to normal with everyone after Frank and Alice's return.

Sirius began to feed Harry the mush that was titled baby food; he couldn't see where they got off calling it food, after tasting some one day. He had been feeding Calla, and getting slightly frustrated that she kept turning away from the spoon. He decided to show her it was alright, and that she should eat it, by taking a mouthful himself. But it had grossed him out and made him scrunch up his face in disgust, which made Calla laugh at her daddy.

They were beginning to make plans for Christmas; they were planning on a family dinner and presents on Christmas Eve and a party Christmas evening for the Order and anyone who wished to join in; everyone with security clearance, that is. Everyone was excited about the kids first Christmas, wanting it to be special. They were going to decorate the house to extremes never heard of before.

Harry was eating his food silently, without pushing it away. Sirius guessed he was a lot like James in that respect; when he was offered food, he didn't refuse it. Everyone said Sirius was the one with a large appetite, but nobody ever noticed how much James ate; except for Lily, that is, who cooked for them all for a few years. She would defend Sirius, saying that he only ate as much as any other man, but then would crack some joke about him to cancel out being nice.

They were like brother and sister with each other, had been for a time now; they would stick up for each other and defend each other, but they would also tease the other. It had started at school as a friendship when Sirius would try to find out why Lily wouldn't date James and had grown into a sibling type of situation when they started hanging out more. It suited them, fairly well, to have a relationship like that with each other; Lily had no brother and Sirius had no sister, so they filled that mold for each other.

Sirius looked around him and smiled; he thought his life was perfect, with just enough flaws to make it real. The flaws, though, were horrible and deadly; the war. Enough said at that; the war encompassed everything bad in their lives right now. Death, destruction, battles, everything, and Sirius could trace this all to one person; Voldemort. He hated the man with every fiber of his being, hated all he stood for and all he did.

For a time, at school, he had thought he would lose his brother to Voldemort, had thought Regulus would be overcome by the pressures of a dark pureblooded family. He hadn't though, and that made Sirius happy beyond belief, that he could share his life with his brother.

After dinner was finished, Sirius and Rose took Harry and Hallie upstairs for their bath. They put the twins in the tub in their bathroom and began gently washing them. Rose began humming a tune, one that Sirius didn't recognize.

"What is that?"

"What?"

"The song you were humming, what was it?"

"Oh," she laughed a little, "its Rubber Ducky. Here, I'll just sing the words for you. _Rubber ducky, you're the one…You make bathing oh so fun._ That's all I really know; my mum used to sing it to me when I was little, I had this little rubber ducky toy, but I don't remember it now." Her voice seemed to fill with pain at thought of her mum, who had died a several years ago.

"You know, I'm sure she'd be glad you remembered that much after so many years; you're 21 now and that must have been when you were what, two or three when you last heard it?" she nodded. "Well then, don't be sad love; she's watching down on you now and I'll bet anything she's proud of you." He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek, not being able to let go of Harry. "Shall we go get them dressed for bed, then?"

"Yes, let's." They got up and went up another floor to the twins' nursery, passing Lily and James who were on their way down a flight with Calla and A.P. When they got up there, they rifled through the wardrobe for some pajamas. Rose picked out a pair of green flannel pants and a pale green shirt with long sleeves and a frog on it for Hallie and Sirius picked out some dark blue flannel pants and a dark green t-shirt for Harry. Once they were both dressed and ready for bed, Rose picked a book off the shelf and sat down to read to them.

"You know, they like stories about their mum and dad just as much as those books. Found that out earlier today, didn't we?" he asked, aiming the last part of the question at Harry and Hallie who were sitting in his lap and looking from Sirius to Rose trying to figure out who was telling the story. Sirius laughed and turned to Rose; she had a different perspective on all the stories that Sirius had told them earlier. She put the book she had picked up back on the shelf and began her tale.

"How about the time Lily made James fall in love with Minnie for almost a month?" Harry and Hallie smiled in recognition of Minnie's name, they had taken a certain liking to their future transfiguration professor recently, and she to them. Rose proceeded to tell her point of view on the story; how Lily had thought it funny at first, then how she'd felt the slightest bit guilty, then how she couldn't look at James without a severe pang of guilt. Sirius had never heard about that before, he thought Lily had enjoyed every minute of it; when he voiced his thoughts, Rose assured him that Lily had enjoyed the peace and quiet but that she thought it came at to costly a price.

Hallie and Harry's eyes were drooping now, so they were placed in their crib and covered up with their blankets which looked well worn by now. Sirius and Rose left the room, turning on a nightlight and shutting the door behind them. They began walking down to the kitchen and met up with Lily and James on the way down. They all went to grab a snack, Sirius and James taking more of a second dinner, and went to the game room.

It was a Friday night, and on Friday nights they had some fun. Everyone would meet up down in the game room after putting the kids to bed for some recreational time. Sometimes Andy and Ted would come, having gotten one of the older students to watch Dora for the evening. Tonight, though, they had brought her with; there was a meeting early in the morning so they would just sleep here tonight. Dora had been put up in a room on the second floor; Andy and Ted would sleep on the second floor as well.

They played for a while, enjoying the adult time. They didn't get quite enough of it, with eight babies in the house and various children coming in and out of the place when their parents came for a visit or for a meeting. Several new couples had joined the Order as of late, and they all had children of a younger age. The Bones' had begun bringing their daughter, Susan, with them after the first meeting that they were initiated into. Since then the number of children had grown.

Sarah and David Wimbush had twin sons named Wyatt and Wesley that were three months old; Patricia and Carl Pinnock had a daughter named Paula who was six months old; Charles and Catherine Dorsey had a daughter named Daralis who was eight months old; Cynthia and Richard Thomas had a son named Dean who was seven months old; Heather and Stewart Abbott had a daughter named Hannah who was five months old; Hillary and Hugh Hedgecook had a daughter named Hazel who was four months old; and Frederick and Georgette Duckett had a son named Dale who was eleven months old.

Sirius kept getting all the kids mixed up at meetings; who wouldn't, with so many of them? But he was working on it. They needed all the help they could get, and if it meant learning twenty kids names he would do it; not that them joining was solely based on Sirius learning their kids names, but it never hurt to be polite. They couldn't stay up to late because of the meeting tomorrow, but they made the best of the time they had; they talked about everything that they couldn't in front of the kids. They finally called it a night around eleven and everyone went to bed so they would be rested for tomorrows meeting; little did they know what would be learned from that fateful meeting.

**_A/N: Okay, another chapter done. Sorry it took so long; FanFiction's site wouldn't let me post for several days, but I tried; hard. Was the chapter any good, do you think? You could always tell me in a review, you know. I haven't gotten many, and let me tell you, it's starting to get a little disheartening. I think I'll hold off on the next chapter until I get some feedback on the previous chapters; it doesn't have to be positive either, just give me your input. I do NOT own the songs in this chapter; the lyrics for the song _Baby Mine_ are from the version Bette Midler sang on the _Beaches_ album and the lyrics to _Rubber Ducky_, well I'm not exactly sure where they're from; probably some obscure episode of _The Muppet's_ or something. Look for the next chapter in a week or so, I would say. Also, I'll address this now, school will be starting soon so I won't be updating nearly as much. I have a full schedule this year; Confirmation classes, Mock Trial, three honors classes, a college level class, and I'm looking for a job. If I sound stupid for taking so much stuff on my sophomore year, I probably am, but it's too late now and I need to do all the stuff anyway. I'll keep trying to update though, it just might take time; but don't give up!_**

_**Thank you to my loyal reviewer; BitterSweet Amusement. It is very much appreciated.**_


	13. In My Life

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter in any way, shape, or form. I never will; that's a slightly depressing thought, but life goes on I suppose. I do NOT own the songs contained in this chapter either; I'm not sure who does, really, but it's not me. They are both Beatles songs, so I'm guessing the Beatles or their children do; who knows though. The lyrics are from their _1_ album and their _Imagine_ album. Enjoy!

_**A/N: Yes, the title of the chapter is also the title of a song by the Beatles; it fits well, if you ask me. I seem to have a theme going this chapter, see if you can spot it; it's pretty obvious.**_

**Chapter 12: In My Life**

_Song: Yesterday _

_By: The Beatles_

**-Lily's POV-**

Lily was shocked. She didn't expect that, not in a million years. Sure, she had had her suspicions after what had happened earlier in the year, but she hadn't ever thought _this_ would happen. She couldn't believe it! What must the others be going through, at that very moment? She barely knew what she thought on the matter, much less what the others were thinking, but she thought she ought to guess so she was prepared for the eventual reaction.

She looked around the table at the other Order members, and saw them all with gobsmacked looks. _They look like I feel._ The guys, in particular, were taking this news rather hard. She was trying to gauge what her husband's reaction would be, but it was nearly impossible to read his features. She studied his face for any hint as to what she might do to soothe him. She supposed that anger and disgust would be playing their roles by now, but she couldn't soothe those emotions as she felt them herself and wasn't quite sure how to overcome them.

She was upset, most of all, that they had all had to deal with this on top of everything else. It just wasn't fair; _but then, whoever said life was fair?_ She wanted to yell from shock and all the other emotions she was currently trying to control. Lily got up and walked over to James; he needed her. She stood behind him and wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him from behind as he leaned back into her.

She tried to pour comfort into the embrace, but she knew it wouldn't do any good. He would be feeling betrayed, and with good reason. What had happened before was one thing, the loss of a friend happened to many people, but this was an incomparable blow to him and everyone else.

Living in this time was awful. You could barely trust anyone, and those you thought you could trust may not be worthy of such a thing.

That was what was making everyone so upset. They had trusted a person, with their lives no less, and he had turned on them. They all felt the familiar shock of betrayal and hurt. This would take some time to get over. Lily still couldn't believe it. Peter Pettigrew had turned Death Eater and was betraying his friends, probably as they spoke.

**-James' POV-**

James wanted to kill the bastard! His former friend had turned to the dark side and had no doubt shared valuable, and secret, information with Voldemort. What's more, Dumbledore had just sat by and let it happen. When Pettigrew; that's what he was referred to as now, Peter was too human for what he'd become and Wormtail held to many reminders of a good friend; had left the Order, Dumbledore hadn't wiped Pettigrew of his memories of the Order or his knowledge of the group. He said that, Pettigrew could be trusted with the information on the people and that the Order information was bound to be out of date. James had scoffed loudly when that was proclaimed by the old man, earning a sympathetic glance from Andy.

Pettigrew still knew where Lily and James' house was, even if he couldn't tell the exact location he could still send people to the general area, and all that had gone on in the Order whilst he still belonged. James was furious. He wanted to hurt Pettigrew. What he'd done caused a deep, seething hate to grow in him. James was growing tired of this, this endless fight against the evil bastard who called himself superior and murdered countless people.

He couldn't read the paper in the morning anymore, especially after attempting it this morning and having his breakfast nearly come back up; it disgusted him to hear about all the new deaths and the tortures that had taken place the previous day. Another had hit home that morning, which he had learned about in detail at the start of the meeting. The attacks last night had taken out some of the newer Order members, as well as some seasoned members.

The Pinnock's and the Duckett's had both been murdered; their children had been killed as well. There had been attacks last night on multiple towns, a mass targeting of muggles, and the Pinnock's and the Duckett's had happened to live in two of the towns that had been attacked. They had called for help and fought valiantly to protect their neighborhoods, but to no avail. Death Eaters had overcome them and murdered them, and then their children, in cold blood.

Another shock to the Order was the murder of the Bones'. Their home had been attacked early this morning; they had been a specific target, not a bystander of a mass attack like the others. Death Eaters had gone to their home and killed them in their sleep, never giving them the chance to fight. Their daughter though, Susan, had been at her Aunt Amelia's home for the evening and had remained unharmed. She was to stay there, as Amelia was her godmother. Dumbledore had contacted her and gone to set up some stronger protection wards.

James was sickened by what was going on, but it only fueled a burning desire to _do_ something that had been crackling in him for months on end. He felt as if what he was doing, what the Order was doing, wasn't enough. He wanted to take on an offensive role in the war, instead of playing defense the whole time. He thought it such a waste, to have the Order members and countless others killed because Dumbledore wanted to play it safe and collect information. _What good is information, if you never put it to use?_ He had asked his old headmaster that question many times, and found himself asking it again.

James was starting to get frustrated with the old man, very frustrated indeed. Lily walked over to him and he felt her wrap her arms around his neck, and he leaned back into her. He began to calm down from the shock of the first bit of news, that of his friends betrayal.

He wasn't entirely sure what to think about that yet. He needed some time with the other Marauders, and soon. Luckily, the meeting was over. It seemed he had been sulking through all the reports and news of attacks. He didn't care though, he was just glad it was over so he could talk to his friends. He nodded his head in the direction of the basement when he caught Sirius' eye, then did the same with Remus, Frank and Regulus.

They all caught on and headed for the game room after telling their wives where they'd be. Once downstairs, they all took a seat on the couch in front of the telly, leaving it off. Not two seconds after sitting down, Sirius got up and began pacing furiously. Remus joined him a moment later, and then spoke.

"I think we could all do with a drink." Without waiting for a response, he headed over to the bar and began pouring drinks. He came back with the five glasses floating in front of him. "This ought to do the trick. I broke out the muggle whisky, so it's plenty strong." He directed a glass into each of his friends' waiting hands. James took his glass and downed it in one go. It was strong enough, for the time being anyway. The muggle liquor had a kick to it that firewhisky lacked, severely. They wanted the burning sensation as the liquid flowed down their throats, if only to draw their attention from their immediate problem.

He levitated the bottle over to the small table in front of the couch and poured himself another glass, which he also downed. When he poured his third glass, each one was only three fingers; he also refilled the others' glasses. The bottle was half empty by the time they started talking again, having been freshly opened.

"What are we supposed to do? The prat knows all about the secret passages in the school and he's probably told his _master_ all about them by now. Do we tell Dumbledore about the Map? And if so, do we let him use it to patrol the entrances? And what, may I ask, are we going to do about the prat? We can't just let him go on with all the information he has, not only on the school but on us as well." Sirius was the first to vocalize the thoughts that everyone was having.

"We have to tell him about the passages, at the least." Remus said. "But, I don't know that we need to give him the map, or even alert him to its existence. Once he knows about them, he can have them watched; besides, the map is locked up safely in the office. It's not going anywhere anytime soon."

"Right, well that solves one problem. What about the other? Sirius is right, we can't just let the git go on knowing our secrets. We have to find some way to make him forget them. I, personally, vote we find the bastard and obliviate him. It'd serve him right if he happened to forget his life, as far as I'm concerned." Regulus gave his opinion on the matter, sounding truly indifferent to Pettigrew losing all his past memories. "We could catch him, and then erase any mention of our very existence from his memory. Who cares if it's most of his childhood gone? It's not as though he deserves happy memories anymore. From what I've heard, you have to kill at least one person to be let in."

Everyone winced as they pictured their one time friend murdering someone; it was an eerie thought. They decided to tell Dumbledore about the passages, and ask him to work something out about how to clear the memories. Remus and Frank were volunteered for the job of talking to the old man, because they kept their tempers best.

The other three went up to the guys' office to have some more whisky to drown their sorrows. It seemed, though, that sorrow knew how to swim, because the liquor was having very little effect on their feelings; they could still feel the anger and pain that came with such a betrayal, and it wasn't pleasant.

Top that off with the fact that they were, by now, completely drunk and they were looking at a very bleak day. James decided he wanted to fly to clear his mind and invited the others to come as well; Remus and Frank were still speaking with the old codger and the girls were still looking after their Order guests. Regulus and Sirius took him up on the offer so they all stumbled out of the office's back door and across the pitch to the broom shed; none of them noticed on their way out, that a screen on the wall next to the office door was flashing red.

**-Holly's POV-**

It was quiet. The house was still. The Order members had all departed, leaving the group of friends alone. Remus and Frank had tried to convince Dumbledore to take action against Pettigrew, but the man would hear nothing of it. They had warned him about the secret passages and their current condition, telling him to be on guard as Pettigrew knew them as well. After that episode, Dumbledore had left and taken the Order with him so the friends could comfort each other as needed.

They were all sitting in the game room, spread out in various states of disarray. Frank was sitting on one of the armchairs with Alice curled up in his lap, Remus and Rina were in a similar position in the other armchair, Lily was sprawled out on the couch with her arms and legs dangling over the edge, Rose was laying on the floor by the couch with Lily's hand floating dangerously close to her face and Holly was sitting curled up in a ball with her back leaned up against the end of the couch. The kids were all playing over by the pool table, not yet ready for their nap.

The meeting had gone on until lunch, the meal being provided by Tinker. They all stayed in their relative positions, just sitting or lying there, for a while. The kids started rubbing their eyes, getting tired, but nobody felt like getting up so they just fell asleep where they were and were conjured blankets by their parents.

Regulus, Sirius and James had left some time ago; they had been spotted flying over the pitch and occasionally the pool. They had been left alone though, when they yelled down in slurred voices that they needed to cool off for a while. Once the kids were asleep, the adults soon joined. They all slept as they were, whether it be sitting or lying down.

When Holly woke up, it was nearly six in the evening. The kids were once again playing with their toys by the pool table, having woken up some time ago apparently. Holly watched as her friends began to stir, shaking their heads to get rid of the daze that comes with an afternoon nap.

Holly got up and went to the bar, deciding that a stiff drink would help everyone. She only made six though, because they needed at least one sober adult for the kids. Usually one of the girls would volunteer to be the 'designated mummy' for the evening so the others could drink. It usually worked fairly well, and this evening Frank was the designated parent; the girls found it funny, though, to call him the designated mum.

"Do you reckon they've come back in yet?" Frank asked; everyone knew who he was talking about.

"No, but I'm guessing that if they were to stop moving they'd pass out. From what we saw, they were smashed beyond repair for the evening. They took it hard." Remus said, while drinking a glass of hot chocolate with Bailey's; it was one of his favorite drinks to have, because of the chocolate and alcohol, and the Bailey's complimented the hot drink well. Remus himself appeared to be taking the news badly, though better than the other three.

Holly was beginning to get worried, it wasn't like Regulus to drink then go off flying. She decided to go check up on him. She stood up and pulled Rose and Lily with her, though it didn't take much to convince her friends they ought to go. They took the secret entrance in the basement, the one that led to the pool and the broom shed.

Walking along the dark tunnel, drinks in tow, they eventually climbed out of the trap door. Holly came out first, and immediately began searching for Regulus' distinctive form in the dark night sky. She saw no one flying though; no movement at all in fact, except for that of the clouds, and began to worry. _Where have they gone?_

Lily stumbled up next; the girl couldn't hold her liquor, so she became intoxicated after a small glass of coke and rum. After her came Rose, a little more steady in her climb; she had more practice holding her liquor, having been Sirius' drinking buddy since sixth year. They, too, looked around the sky for any sign of their husbands.

"Weren't they…_hic_…flying before…_hic_?" Lily asked in between hiccups.

"Yes, yes they were. I wonder where they got off to. Maybe they went back inside and we didn't notice them; let's check the shed quick for their brooms." Rose suggested their next plan of action, which was carried out shortly after. "Huh," she said upon opening the door. "They aren't in there. They must have flown somewhere else; perhaps over the forest."

"Perhaps…_hic_…perhaps we should go after them. They were fairly drunk, after all." Lily suggested, again trying to talk between her hiccups.

"How about we go," Holly said, "and you go tell the others where we are. No offense, Lils, but you don't hold your rum well. You shouldn't be in the air right now." Lily looked offended at the statement, but after a few moments of imitating a fish she chose to not argue the point and went back in through the trap door huffily. Holly and Rose proceeded to each grab a broom and mount up, drinks still in their hands.

They flew up and circled the pitch for a bit before flying off over the forest, their wands lit with a simple lumos. Holly lost her grip on her glass when she had to use both hands after a sudden gust of wind, dropping it to the ground.

"Shit, there goes my warmth." Holly had found that certain liquors had the effect of warming her up, muggle brandy being the best at the job. "At least I've still got my jumper; otherwise I'd freeze onto my broom handle." She wasn't really talking to anyone, more of a rambling to herself than anything else. She looked around at the sky, trying to see a sign of her husband in the clouds while Rose looked down to the forest for any sign of the guys. Rose finished her drink then dropped the glass, trying to hear it shatter from her position in the sky unsuccessfully.

They carried on for a while, searching above the forest and through the clouds but with no success. They were just about to go back and get the others to come out and help, when Rose alerted Holly to some flashing lights going about below them. They flew nearer, but not too close, and saw more of the lights flashing.

"They're dueling, but why?" Rose asked. It was obvious to the two women, that a duel was in fact taking place below them. They wanted to take stock of the situation before they joined in, especially since they'd been drinking and would need to have their wits about them. They watched for a few moments. They had their lit wands aimed at the ground and had identified the figures fighting.

James, Regulus and Sirius stood in a half circle, facing a group of seven Death Eaters. In the time the two women watched, they saw multiple spells being fired off. Two of the Death Eaters were already stunned and on the ground when they got there, only noticed because one of the seven standing tripped over the bodies when he was hit with a stunner as well.

The three guys kept fighting, fairly well for how inebriated they had been, and managed to stun two more of the six thus leaving them with four to go. When Holly saw the flash of green light flying towards Regulus though, she dived towards the ground in such a hurry. She landed hard on the ground, falling slightly, and stumbled over to the newly prone form of her now deceased husband and began mourning in the midst of the battle.

She had never felt such pain in her life. She felt as though half of her had been ripped viciously from her body, and she would never be whole again. She felt empty and alone. She was in such an amount of pain that she was past tears; she couldn't manage to produce any. Her world was falling apart and she couldn't stop it. She looked into Regulus' blank face; it looked so peaceful, almost as if he were sleeping and not dead. Except for the fact that his eyes were wide and lifeless, that is. Holly draped herself over her husband, and began to weep silently.

She heard the battle going on in the background, but paid it no mind. She was devastated. She could think of nothing but how her heart was breaking in a million different ways, how she would have to tell her children they would never get to know their father, how she would have to raise them alone, how she would never get to be held by Regulus again, how she'd never hear him say that he loved her or that she looked beautiful in sweatpants and a sweater, how she'd never see him smile again, how she'd never get to talk to him again or tell _him_ how much _she_ loved him, how they'd never get to comfort each other again, how she'd never get to hear him call her name again and how she already missed him so much that it hurt, it physically hurt her how much she missed him. She was convinced that there must be a gaping, ugly whole in her chest where her heart should be.

She stood back up, pain and anger flashing in her eyes. She was going to take revenge on the people who'd done this, the Death Eaters. She turned towards them and began walking slowly in their direction. She didn't draw her wand; she didn't plan on stopping for any spell and a shield charm wouldn't stop the killing curse. She wanted to kill them all with her bare hands, to make them suffer as much as she was. She was going to hurt them as much as she could, and nothing could stop her; nothing but one spell, that is.

Holly barely noticed the green light flying towards her and the distant sound of someone calling her name, and didn't bother trying to dodge the curse. It flew towards her at a rapid pace, stopping her in her tracks three feet from the nearest Death Eater. The last thing she remembered, before the world disappeared and she collapsed, was a sense of dizzying relief at getting to be with Regulus again, and hoping that her daughters would be taken well care of. Then, as though someone had turned out the lights, Holly fell into darkness so complete that there was no returning. There was no chance of her being saved as Frank and Alice had been, this was her end and she was joining her husband to watch over their children.

**-Rose's POV-**

She had quickly followed Holly down to the ground, but didn't fly over to Regulus. Once she landed, a little more smoothly, she began fighting the remaining Death Eaters with James and Sirius. She had seen the spell go for Regulus, and she knew what spell it was. She tried to aim from behind her tears, but was having extreme difficulty in landing any spells.

When she didn't do well aiming, she walked behind Sirius so she wouldn't be in the way and began firing off stunners in random directions barely taking care to aim around her Sirius and James. She was watching Holly mourn, for the most part, and saw when her friend got up and began walking towards the Death Eaters. She tried calling to Holly, but guessed she couldn't be heard. There was a look of intense pain and suffering in Holly's eyes, it was agonizing to watch her friends face when it looked like that. Holly was out for revenge, Rose knew, and she wouldn't be stopped unless she was killed.

When Rose saw the green light heading for Holly, she tried to shout another warning, but was too late. Holly had slumped onto the ground, lifelessly. Rose cried out, she began screaming and yelling. She figured she may as well be productive about it, so she wiped her eyes and stepped from behind her husband and began firing off the most painful curses she could think of at the remaining two wizards.

She got one of them with a cutting hex to the torso, and he began to bleed. She followed up with an immobilization spell, it would stop him from moving but he would still be able to feel the pain she had inflicted upon him. She was out for revenge now, after two of her friends had died. The man was stopped in his place, still bleeding but very slowly, his face contorted with pain. He would be of no issue for a while.

Rose turned to curse the other man, but saw he was already down. She turned around until she spotted Sirius kneeling over Regulus' body and James collecting Holly's. She went over to James, to have a quick word. She wanted some answers, because she would be busy in a short while.

"What happened James, and make it quick?"

"We were flying, but got bored over the pitch so we left for over the forest. Obviously, we left the warded area. They started shooting spells at us, so we flew down and started fighting them. We were dueling, slowly overtaking them, and then you saw the rest. Not much happened. We blocked the curses and hexes, for the most part. Sirius was stunned once, but we revived him straight away and no harm done. That's it. I'll take Holly back to the house, and put the extra brooms in the shed. Can you manage the two?"

"Yeah, and thanks James. You want to tell everyone so that when we get back they'll know to leave Sirius be for a while; you know how he gets. They might be a little drunk, Lily especially." James winced slightly when he heard that he might have to sober up his friends; it wasn't an easy task, by any means. "Frank's on duty tonight, so the kids shouldn't be too much a bother." James nodded and set off with Holly's body and two brooms in his lap. He was very melancholy when he left, very serious. It seemed he had sobered up a bit. She knew he and Frank had a hard evening ahead of them; the others became increasingly difficult to deal with when drunk and the news of the deaths would make it worse. She hoped they would just tell everyone then get them all into bed.

Rose walked over to Sirius, who was still in the same position kneeling over Regulus' body. She knelt beside him and took his hand. He didn't even look up, and his hand was limp in hers. She squeezed his hand, trying to give him some reassurance, but she felt so helpless. They stayed like that for a time; Sirius silently grieving for his brother and Rose mourning the losses and trying to comfort Sirius.

Rose cast the spell to check the time, and saw that it was nearing 10:30. She and Holly had left the house at 6:30, and had joined the fight at about 7:00 or so. They had been kneeling there, frozen in grief, for three hours. She decided it was time to get moving and that Sirius could grieve just as well back under the safety of the wards.

She stood and tried to pull Sirius up by his hand. He wasn't cooperating though, so she took his whole arm and pulled as hard as she could. She got him up and walked him to his broom, deciding that she'd take Regulus' body with her. She got her husband mounted on the broom and hovering a few feet off the ground waiting for her. She went back to the body with her own broom in hand.

She again had to use a bit of her strength to lift the body up into her arms. It was a struggle for her, to get up into the air while holding onto her brother-in-laws body, but once she managed she hovered over to Sirius. She shifted Regulus' weight to her left arm and took Sirius' hand again with her right.

He looked at her and tried to force a smile but couldn't quite manage it. She pulled him up higher and they began their slow trek back to the broom shed. They flew in silence for the ten minutes it took to navigate their way back over the endless sea of trees.

They landed beside the broom shed, and Rose laid Regulus' body down when she dismounted. She took the brooms and placed them in the shed, then walked back to Regulus' body. She pondered how she was going to get the body back to the house; it was a short enough walk, but she got tired trying to lift him up and the trek through the few layers of snow wouldn't be easy. She decided that she would use the Mobilicorpus spell to levitate the body back to the house.

She wasn't sure where James had put Holly's body, but she would place Regulus' in the guys' office until she knew. She took Sirius' hand again and walked with him back to the house, her other hand holding her wand and directing Regulus in front of them. She was holding up fairly well, but she knew she would break down sometime; it was merely a question of when and where.

**-Frank's POV-**

Frank had already put the kids to bed when James came back. He'd had a feeling that something was up and he wanted the kids taken care of, even if they weren't quite tired yet. He was currently sitting in the living room with the others who had stayed behind. James had torn them away from their drinks and given them some coffee and sat them down in the living room.

He was about to tell them something, apparently the evening held some more in store for the group.

"When we were flying this evening, we got bored and left the grounds to fly over the forest. We were attacked by a group of Death Eaters, so we landed and started to fight them. I'm not sure how long we'd been at it, but; Merlin this is hard." James paused in his recollection, and Frank saw him take a deep breath before he continued. "Regulus and Holly were both hit with killing curses; they died." James seemed to deflate as he pronounced it to be true.

Frank was in denial; how could they be dead? They had been healthy a short while ago; drunk and angry, but alive. Why was this happening, tonight of all nights? Couldn't the damned Death Eaters waited to attack? And why the hell them, what did they do to deserve this?

Frank's thoughts then flew to the fact that, if this was true, that he and Alice now had custody over Mira and Carina. The two had been orphaned, and at such a young age; neither could even speak yet, they wouldn't remember their parents! Frank decided he would make it his job to tell them about their parents, all he could.

He was sitting next to Alice, holding her as she cried over the loss of their friends. It had been a horrible day followed by a horrible evening and Frank didn't think things would be getting better anytime soon.

"James," Frank said, looking around the newly depressed room. "We should get this lot settled in for the night and then call Dumbledore. Actually, we should just get them some calming draughts then get them comfortable down here; there'll be an emergency meeting, I'm sure. You go call Dumbledore and make the potions and I'll get them settled." James nodded his agreement and left for the fireplace in the sitting room.

Frank got up and set about conjuring up some blankets. Everyone was sitting in an uncomfortable silence, but nobody wanted to break it. Remus and Rina were lying on one of the couches, holding onto each other. Lily was sitting in an armchair, hugging herself. Alice was on the couch, her feet tucked under her bum with her arms wrapped around herself as well. Everyone was crying silently, shocked and horrified by the turn of events. Frank gave each of them a huge comforter to warm them with, and then called Tinker in.

He asked her to bring in some coffee or hot chocolate, but no alcohol; they'd all had enough of that for the time being. He lit a small fire in front of each of the occupied couches and armchairs that wouldn't burn anything but would provide warmth to them all. Once that was done, he sat down next to Alice and pulled her into his chest. He rubbed his hand up and down her arm while she silently cried into his shoulder.

He looked around, and saw that Lily was still sitting with her arms about herself. He waved her over and she moved to sit on his other side, her comforter draped around her shoulders and pulled together in the front. He pulled her into his chest as well and began rubbing her arm as well, trying his best to comfort her as well as Alice. She was openly weeping now; the great racking sobs coming from his wife saddened him further. He pulled his wife and Lily closer to him, leaned his head back, and sighed. They were in for a long night and an even longer week, if Frank guessed correctly.

Frank conjured up some tissues for Alice and Lily to dry their eyes on, as they'd been awkwardly trying to use the comforters. Tinker popped back in then, with the tray of drinks for everyone. She passed a glass to everyone in the room, making sure that everything was suitable.

"Is there anything else you be needing sir?" she asked him in her high pitched little voice.

"Could you go help James with the calming draughts then check on the kids please?" She nodded then popped out of the room in the next instant, taking off to set to work.

Frank sat there with his remaining friends and just was. He couldn't explain what that meant, only that he couldn't really feel anything; he was blank of emotion and feeling. He was sure he'd experience pain and sorrow eventually, but for now he had to stay strong for Alice; he could mourn later, when she was healed of the immediate pain. He could hold off his depression for that long, right?

**-Rose's POV-**

She had gotten Sirius inside and after she had placed Regulus' body next to Holly's on the desk in the guys' office, she had gotten him to follow her into the girls' office to sit and talk. That was where they were at that time, curled up together on the chaise lounge. They hadn't done much talking, but were comfortable in the silence; or as comfortable as one can get in that type of situation. The words to a song by The Beatles were floating through Rose's head right now. She decided to sing it to Sirius in an attempt to soothe him, or at the least get him to open up a bit.

_When I find myself in times of trouble, Mother Mary comes to me…_

_Speaking words of wisdom; let it be…_

_And in my hour of darkness, she is standing right in front of me…_

_Speaking words of wisdom; let it be…_

She decided to hum the chorus, instead of singing the lyrics for this part; she never remembered how many 'let it be's' to put in. She was lying in front of Sirius, spoon style, with his arm wrapped around her. She knew he was listening to her, whether or not it was helping she didn't know, though. She began gently caressing his hand.

_And when the broken hearted people, living in the world agree…_

_There will be an answer, let it be…_

_For though they may be parted, there is still a chance that they will see…_

_There will be an answer, let it be…_

She, again, hummed the chorus instead of singing the lyrics. She could feel his warm breath on her neck, and it had sped up. He burrowed his face into the hair blanketing her neck, gently pushing some of it aside as he went. She felt a warm wetness on her neck, and knew he was silently sobbing. Her suspicions were proven accurate when she felt him shaking against her slightly. She continued on with her song.

_And when the night is cloudy, there is still a light that shines on me…_

_Shine until tomorrow, let it be…_

_I wake up to the sounds of music; Mother Mary comes to me…_

_Speaking words of wisdom let it be…_

She decided she'd sing the last verse of the chorus, as it fit well enough. And if she messed up the words, nobody would notice.

_Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be…_

_There will be an answer, let it be…_

_Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be…_

_Whisper words of wisdom, let it be._

When she was done, she turned over and pulled Sirius into her arms. He clutched her in his arms tightly, as if he thought she would disappear if he let go. That was just fine with her. She rubbed her hand in circles on his back, crooning nonsense words of comfort into his ear.

She felt like crying herself, but knew it wouldn't help him at all and that was her main priority. When he stopped weeping, she pulled back slightly and looked into his face.

He had bags under his bloodshot, puffy eyes. His cheeks were tearstained and red. His hair was damp and clinging to his face. His eyes held such amounts of pain that she wanted to weep over the fact that he had to feel that way. He was agonizing over this, she knew, and there wasn't much of anything she could do. She heard a knock at the door and called out to give her one moment. Sirius wiped his face off and sat up, facing the door.

Rose knelt on the lounge behind Sirius and kissed the top of his head before going to the door. It was James.

"Dumbledore will be here in five minutes or so," he said in hushed tones. "He's called an emergency Order meeting and I thought you might want to get Sirius upstairs before people start to get here. How is he?" James sounded genuinely worried about his friend, and it touched Rose that James cared so much.

"He's not doing well, that's for sure. He's passed denial right over; he saw it happen, how could he deny it? He's grieving right now; soon he'll start with the guilt and then the rage. After that, he should start to move on; at least as much as is possible under such circumstances. I'll take care of him and be back down shortly; I'll give Dumbledore my account of the story so before retiring for the evening. Thank you for all you've done, James. How are the others taking it?"

"Stoically, I guess would be the best description. They're all kind of just sitting there, quietly. Their faces all have tear stains on them, so they've been crying. Frank and Remus are comforting the girls and I was just going to Lily. She's rather worse for wear, I'm afraid. Tinker's brewing calming draughts; I was supposed to, but I worked on a Dreamless Sleep for Sirius instead. Here, have him take this and get some rest. Merlin knows he'll need it coming up."

Rose took the potion vial and hugged James briefly. She thanked him again and went back to Sirius.

"Sirius, let's get upstairs. You need some rest." She pulled his hand and he followed her, not doing more than walking beside her. She got him upstairs and into their bedroom after some time; he didn't want to move much, so she ended up having to coax him every so often to keep going.

When they finally got to their bedroom, she pulled out some of his pajama bottoms. She helped him to take off his robes, t-shirt and jeans and then put on the flannel pants. She instructed him to the bed and handed him the vial. He just sat there, staring at it in his hands.

"I don't want to go to sleep yet, I'm not ready. I don't want to be alone, Rose."

She wanted to weep, yet again, this time at the sound of pain in his voice. It was strained, weak, fragile, and it cracked when he spoke the heart wrenching words. She swiped her hands over her eyes to keep tears from falling, and went over to him. Sitting on the edge of the bed next to him, she pulled him to her with her arm.

He hugged her in return and they sat that way for a while, finding solace in each others' presence. She patted his arm gently, and got up.

"I've got to go talk to Dumbledore, but I'll be right back. Alright?" he nodded. More, she thought, because he knew she had to do this rather than because he was alright with it.

Rose went downstairs and went straight for Dumbledore. She gave him a detailed account of what she had seen earlier that evening. When she was done, she stuck around for a few minutes to hear what the man had to say about what had happened.

They were all gathered around the dining table, most of the Order there. Molly had stayed home with the children, Arthur had insisted he would tell her about everything later on, and then there were the people who had been killed recently who were also missing from the table.

"Where are the Death Eaters again, Rose?" Dumbledore asked.

She explained to him the general direction they had gone to find the boys and he immediately sent out a group to find the stunned scum and turn them over to the ministry. Rose found her mind wandering, after that, and decided it was best to leave. She went back upstairs and into her bedroom, only to find Sirius gone.

**-Sirius' POV-**

Sirius had gotten impatient waiting for Rose, so he had gone to the nursery. He knew he shouldn't wake up the twins, but he wanted their company. When he walked in, though, he was surprised to see that they were awake and sitting up. When the door opened, they looked up at him and smiled. He tried to smile in return, but couldn't manage it; as if they could sense his grief, they stopped smiling and looked to him. He went over to each of their cribs and picked them up then went and sat in the rocking chair.

He was very depressed, and what Rose had sung earlier inspired Sirius to sing another Beatles tune to his children to try and express some of what he felt.

"_There are places I remember; _

_All my life though some have changed. _

_Some forever not for better; _

_Some have gone and some remain." _

"_All these places have their moments; _

_With lovers and friends I still can recall. _

_Some are dead and some are living; _

_In my life I've loved them all."_

Sirius choked on that last verse, thinking of recent events.

"_But of all these friends and lovers; _

_There is no one compares with you. _

_And these memories lose their meaning; _

_When I think of love as something new."_

"_Though I know I'll never lose affection; _

_For people and things that went before. _

_I know I'll often stop and think about them;_

_In my life I've loved you more." _

Here, Sirius hummed the instrumental part of the song.

"_Though I know I'll never lose affection; _

_For people and things that went before. _

_I know I'll often stop and think about them; _

_In my life I love you more… _

_In m-y-y-y life I love you more." _

When he finished, he smiled down at his children. He felt that song encompassed his current range of emotions and it helped him to sing out what he was feeling in some odd way. He didn't know how to explain his many emotions, there in laid his difficulty in talking to Rose. He was angry that his brother had been murdered, he was furious that he couldn't stop it, he was upset at himself for not doing more, he felt guilty about his brothers' death, but most of all he felt pain.

It was washing over him in great waves, ripping apart his very being. He wanted to curl up and die alone, but at the same time he wanted to be comforted by Rose and their children. He wanted to let out a long, agonizing wail to take some of the pressure off the lump in his throat but he wanted to stay silent forever as well. He felt as thought there was a cold stone sitting in his chest, weighing him down but also felt as if he was drifting aimlessly. His eyes were heavy with tiredness and sorrow, his heart heavy with pain and anger. He was unable to do anything though, except grieve, and he didn't know how yet.

He'd cried, sung and sat in silence and that was only in the past two hours. He had to figure something out, but what was he to do? He knew Rose would understand what he was dealing with, as would Lily, but he didn't want to talk to them and receive sympathy or advice. He wanted to talk to someone who would just listen without commenting, who would just be there. Remus and Frank would be unable to fully comprehend what he was going through, as would James, and he didn't want the sad looks that Rina and Alice would give him, filled with remorse. His friends were out of the question, as were strangers who all would show pity to him.

"I don't suppose you two would want to listen to your old man, would you?" he asked Calla and A.P. They quirked their heads and looked up at him, as if to say 'go for it'. He did. He told them all that had happened, what he was feeling, why he couldn't talk to anyone else, everything he was going through. He became absorbed in the 'conversation'. So much so, that he didn't notice Rose walk in frantically half-way through then pause when she heard him talking; she had stepped just outside the door and sat down against the wall and she listened to her husband pour his heart out, unbeknownst to him.

"I can't rightly explain everything, I guess, but thanks for listening I guess. You know, we may have to do this again sometime; it helped a lot to say that all out loud, even if you can't talk. Between us, I think that made it even better." He got up and put each of the twins back into their own cribs and tucked them in. "Night loves, don't tell your mum I talked to you lot first. Sweet dreams." He smiled one last time and left. Rose had, by that time, gotten up and gone to their room to ready herself for bed.

Sirius walked in and asked her about the meeting, not getting much other than Dumbledore sending people out to get the scum who did 'it'. Sirius took his dreamless sleep potion and got in bed. He lay on his side, as did Rose, and pulled her back into his stomach. They seemed to mold together when they laid down that way, as if they had one body.

As Sirius started to fall asleep, he felt Rose shaking and heard her crying; but before he knew it, Sirius drifted off to sleep, a peaceful dreamless sleep that would take him well into the next day.

**-James' POV-**

It had been a week since Regulus and Holly had been killed, and their funeral would be taking place that morning. Everyone had taken the news badly. Sirius was barely seen around the house; the one time James had seen him, his friend had been talking to Calla and A.P. and James thought it best to leave him be. Rose had confided her worry about Sirius in her friends; she said that he barely slept and only ate when she forced him to. He had been seen by the others as well, apparently, wandering the second floor aimlessly, walking from bedroom to bedroom.

Rose had broken down two days after the murder. She had just collapsed after dinner one evening and begun crying. Nobody had been able to calm her enough to walk, so James had carried her into the living room to be consoled. They had talked to her, sat with her, stayed silent, everything they could think of to calm her, but nothing worked. She just sat there for two days crying; the only times she didn't cry during those days were when she was asleep. Holly had been like a sister to her over the years, had comforted her when her parents died and been there since they met on the Hogwarts Express. Regulus was her brother, in essence, and she had loved him as well.

Rose had, though, finally recovered a few days ago; at least enough to get up and eat again, anyway. The others were being stoic about their grieving in an attempt to be strong for Sirius and Rose, when they were around. Lily had been crying herself to sleep the past few days, all the guys walked around with solemn looks on their gaunt faces, the girls all had puffy, bloodshot eyes from the crying; it was a horrible week.

Nobody could quite overcome the shock of such a loss; Holly and Regulus had been there for all of the important occurrences in the past couple of years. Regulus had been present at every birth, giving support to the woman in labor. Holly had done countless hours of work to help with the preparations for the children and to make life more comfortable for the girls while they were pregnant. It seemed so surreal, that they were now gone.

James woke up on the morning of one of the saddest days of his life and after a shower began getting dressed. He put on a pair of black dress pants, a white dress shirt, a black and grey tie, a black suit jacket, dress shoes, and a pair of black dress robes. He tried for some time to make his hair lie flat, but had to give up when Lily told him it was time to go.

She had on a simple black dress. It had long sleeves and a turtleneck-line. It was form fitting on the top, but flared out slightly at the waist. It went down to just below her knees. She had on some black shoes, but had foregone jewelry and make-up for the day. Her hair was left in its natural state, wavy and down around her shoulders and back. She wanted to use a charm to make it less bright, but had been told to leave it by nearly everyone in the house.

Harry and Hallie were sitting on the bed trying to play patty-cake; they ended up just clapping and high-fiving each other. Harry was wearing a suit that was an exact replica of James'. Hallie was wearing a black velvet dress. It had t-shirt length sleeves and a rounded neckline that was just under her chin, just far enough away for comfort. The neckline, sleeves and hemline all had white lace trim. Her hair was pulled back with a white bow and she had on white tights. The dress had a white satin ribbon around her waist, tied in a bow at the back. She wore a pair of shiny black shoes to match the outfit.

They had gone out to get the dressy clothes for the kids yesterday. Lily and James had volunteered to go, letting everyone else stay home. They had picked out a different black dress for every baby girl, though they had few options near the end of the line, and had gotten each little boy a suit and a clip on tie so they didn't strangle themselves.

They had chosen especially carefully for Mira and Carina. Mira would be wearing a black velvet skirt and a charcoal grey turtleneck with long sleeves and some black shoes. Carina was wearing a black skirt, a black tank top and a white dress shirt left open over the tank top. She had the same black shoes, and both of their hair was pulled back with black bows.

Frank and Alice had taken over care of the twins, as their godparents, and had moved their nursery up to a spare room on their floor. Other than that, nobody had disturbed anything on the houses second floor.

Once given the go ahead from Lily, James picked up Harry from the bed and Lily picked up Hallie.

"Come on, mini me, let's get going. You and Hallie need to be on your best behavior today, buddy, for Uncle Padfoot. I'm sure you'll behave yourself, this is just in case you didn't know."

They continued to walk downstairs, foregoing apparition for the day, and met the other mourners in the dining hall. They would be holding a service in the dining hall, which had been cleared of its table and filled with chairs, and then the burial would take place afterwards.

Regulus hadn't wanted to be buried in the Black family mausoleum, and Holly's family didn't have one. They had discussed the matter with Sirius and Holly's parents and decided to bury the couple side-by-side by the garden, overlooking the lake. It was near where they were married, and it was a place both were happy at. All parties involved in the decision making had agreed, so two plots had been dug for the burial later in the day.

As of now, the caskets were at the front of the room with the lids propped open for mourners to pay their last respects. James and Lily walked up to the front and stood before their friends' caskets, turning the twins so they wouldn't see the bodies. Sirius and Rose were off to the side shaking peoples' hands and conversing quietly with a few people. James and Lily said their goodbyes, then moved on to speak with Sirius and Rose.

Dumbledore was going to conduct the ceremony and the burial in a short while. Sirius was to give a eulogy and James, Remus and Frank were all going to speak about Regulus. Likewise, Rose would give Holly's eulogy and each of the girls would say a few words about her. Depending on how they were holding up after all that, Sirius and Rose would go back up and say a bit about their life after school; if they couldn't manage, Lily and James would do so for them.

People began shuffling to their seats. Molly was clutching a handkerchief and was wiping away tears. Arthur was sitting down the row from her, trying to keep the peace between his children; the Weasleys employed a certain theory to their seating and it seemed to work fairly well. Molly sat at one end, with Bill and Charlie to her left. Fred sat to her right. After them came Arthur, with Ron in his lap, and last in the line-up came George and Percy. They figured that, if they separated the boys up the right way, there would be less trouble and they could concentrate more on the services.

James and Lily sat in the front row on the far right, Harry and Hallie in their laps. To their left were Remus and Rina with Lucinda sitting between the two, half on each lap. Next in line came Alice and Frank with Neville in between them and Mira and Carina in a lap each. Then were Sirius and Rose with Calla and A.P. each taking up a lap. After them was Holly's immediate family and an open space for Dumbledore when he wasn't speaking.

Dumbledore walked in, dressed in dark blue robes with silver stars embroidered on them; James supposed that the man didn't get much more serious in his clothing choice than that, and that those robes were a concession as it was. He went to the front and began speaking about Regulus and Holly's lives and all they had accomplished, how they were cherished and loved by many. He was followed by the many other tearful speeches. There was a lot of child switching; when getting up to speak, the children residing in each lap had to be passed to someone else for the time being.

When it came time for the part about their marriage, children and conclusion, Sirius and Rose were unable to speak, so Lily and James took Mira and Carina and went to speak about their friends once more.

"They had a wonderful life together. They fell in love at school, and knew that they were soul mates nearly from the beginning," Lily said. "After school, while we all lived in Sirius' flat in London, they grew closer to each other. When they were married, it was the happiest day of their lives; it was filled with joy and love, that which cannot find an equal. Their love for each other possessed a unique level of intensity and passion that few can match, and they enjoyed every moment of it."

"As a product of their marriage and lives together, they had these two lovely ladies. Mira and Carina, while without blood parents, will never be without love or family. Their parents' memory will live on, shared with them through stories and actions. While Regulus and Holly are no longer with us physically, their love will always remain." James took his turn in the speech. "If Mira and Carina grow up in a happy, loving environment free from war then Regulus and Holly will not have died in vain. They fought for the betterment of life for their children and future grandchildren."

"We cannot forget what they lived and died for; love. They loved each other, they loved their children and they loved their friends and family," Lily continued. "Our memory of them years from now will not be how they died, but how they lived." Their speech concluded, Lily and James sat down with Mira and Carina.

People around the room were in tears, silently weeping. Dumbledore stood and led the large procession of mourners out of the dining hall. He was levitating the caskets in front of him, side by side. They walked through the library, which had been cleared of chairs and tables, and out through the big glass door at the back.

The procession walked in silence, except for the sobbing of distraught mourners. They walked along the deck over to the space between the garden and lake. The deck had been cleared of snow and had anti-slipping spells placed along it to keep everyone from falling down on any ice that may have lingered.

When they got to the edge of the deck, they walked a path that had been cleared of snow along the yard and over to the plots. Dumbledore lowered the caskets into the ground as everyone gathered around. They had a moment of silence, where everyone was left to their thoughts, and then Dumbledore covered the caskets with dirt by way of a spell.

Lily leaned into James as the burial was finalized, needing the support. He shifted Harry to one arm and pulled her in with the other. They had taken Harry and Hallie back from Frank and Alice and given them Mira and Carina back to care for. It was a sad day, for everyone involved, and one that wouldn't soon be forgotten.

The plans for Christmas were still going to be put into motion, it had been decided, but it wouldn't be the same. The only reason they were still celebrating was it was the kids' first Christmas and it was still a few weeks away; they had time to begin the healing process.

They all went back in, after the burial, and lunch was provided for everyone. A lot of people had come to pay their respects to the well-liked couple. The entire Order, some people from St. Mungo's, most of Hogwarts' staff, a lot of Ministry employees, Aurors, Obliviators, old school friends and many more.

The wards had been particularly difficult to work around, but had been taken care of in the end. They had set up a new system with Dumbledore's help. People could floo in for the day, if they said 'Funeral of Regulus and Holly Black'. They would be stopped just short of entering the sitting room and would be 'tested', so to speak, by magic to see if they had any type of harmful intent towards the houses inhabitants. This way, people could come in for the day and not know the address. The Fidelius hadn't been affected by this, as it was working with the new spell, so it would still protect from anyone who either didn't say one of the specific phrases or who came with hostile intent.

The lunch lasted for hours; people chatted about many things, the main topic being Regulus, Holly, Mira or Carina. It seemed that people weren't running out of things to say. People James didn't know were coming up to him, Lily, Remus, Rina, Frank, Alice, Sirius and Rose and giving their condolences.

When everyone did leave late in the afternoon, Tinker and Dabble set about cleaning up. After the children had been put down for their naps, James pulled everyone into the girls' office; he didn't want to upset anyone by going to the guys' after it's most recent contents. He poured out two fingers of whiskey for each adult and passed the glasses round.

"To Regulus and Holly, two extraordinarily wonderful people," James said, raising his glass.

"To Regulus and Holly," everyone else repeated, lifting their glasses as well. They all had their drink, and then left the room. None of them wanted to drink too much, not after what last time brought about.

Each went their own separate ways, going to various parts of the house to occupy themselves for a short while. James and Lily went upstairs to put on more comfortable clothes. All in all, the day had been long, tiring, depressing and painful; but their troubles weren't over yet.

**-Lily's POV-**

The days between the funerals and Christmas were hard, in more ways than one.

In the two weeks following the funerals of Regulus and Holly, everyone got their chance to break down and grieve properly. Rose had already broken down and dealt with the largest emotional blow. The break downs came at different times and different places for everyone, but they happened. The group came to call that time The Stagnancy. It fit, too, as they didn't advance or develop in anything; it was as if life came to a standstill for them those two weeks.

Alice broke down on the third day of The Stagnancy. She had been feeding Cari, as Carina had come to be called, and had suddenly burst out in tears. It was an endless, unbidden stream of tears that poured from her eyes. She cried all afternoon and when anyone tried to speak with her she shoved them away. She got up that evening, with a look in her eye of cold determination. What she was determined to do though, none of them had a clue.

Remus had fallen on the fourth day of The Stagnancy. He'd been composing a letter to his mother, about recent goings on, and had spilled the ink. It set him off on a rampage, walking around the house in a fury throwing anything he came into contact with and yelling at anyone in his way. That lasted a couple of hours, at most, but had done the most damage so far.

Frank lasted until day eight, holding his barriers up until he couldn't take any more. He was good about how he exerted his fury though, locking himself in a room and putting up a silencing spell. If one were to ask what he'd been doing in there, they would have been told he'd screamed himself raw. His voice was weak for days afterwards, from all the yelling he apparently did.

Rina broke on day ten. She had been talking with Lily and all of a sudden neither one could take any more peaceful talking. Rina had gone to the kitchen and kicked out Tinker and Dabble. She set out on a baking whirlwind, making everything and anything that came to mind then proceeded to eat it; apparently, she was a nervous eater. Nobody had known that, never having seen her like that before. She isolated herself in the kitchen and wouldn't come out until she was sick from the food.

Lily had also burst on day ten. She had run to the library, her favorite sanctuary, and locked herself in. She'd read for three days straight, refused food and sleep. She read frantically, any book she picked up. She only came out when she did, because James had had his breakdown.

James' breakdown, on day thirteen, was probably the loudest as he didn't bother with silencing charms. He went to the game room, pulled out their record player and started playing the music as loud as he could get it; he eventually turned to a magnification spell to make it even louder. He had sat in the basement for hours listening to the records, when he finished with them he'd throw them at the wall. He was finally stopped by a bleary eyed Lily, who had been pulled from the library for the purpose.

Sirius' was perhaps the worst; taking place on the fourteenth day, the day before Christmas Eve, Sirius did all of the above in stages. He woke up and cried, then calmed himself by listening to loud music, followed by a trip to the library and some yelling at those who disturbed him. He got frustrated with everything and began throwing the books, tipping the tables over, and kicking chairs until they broke. After all that, he went to the kitchen and requested a whole list of comfort foods which he promptly ignored after losing his appetite.

His friends were all worried, but knew that he needed to grieve as they had and that he'd come around.

Christmas Eve came, with the family dinner and the gift opening. Nobody had really gotten into gift exchange as they had in years past; only the children seemed excited, while the adults put on happy faces and did their best acting job. They all spent the day together on tenterhooks, trying to not disturb one another from their temporary peace with the world. They were successful in their attempts at civility and managed a halfway decent day, even if it was silently shadowed by the deaths of Holly and Regulus.

_**A/N: That took a while to write, but a week really isn't that long if you think about it. It was hard to do that to the characters, but it's a war and death happens. The next chapter should have the rest of their Christmas and some other stuff in it. I had to help move my sister back into her dorm at college yesterday; that was fun (extreme sarcasm). It may be a while before the next chapter, first week of school is coming up and after that my uncle may be coming to visit for a few days. My grandpa's having a motorcycle race at his house on my birthday so we're going up there to see that. I'm slightly disappointed in you lot; I know you're reading the story, but nobody is reviewing…sad. Oh well, I guess, watch for the next chapter.**_


	14. Moving On With Life

**_A/N: I'm SO sorry it took so long to update. AP History is more time consuming than I could have planned for. It takes a lot of time to learn about 18th century Puritans and the Great Awakening; at least, I think that's what we're learning. Anyway, I hope the chapter was worth the wait! You could always let me know, hint!_**

**Chapter 13: Moving On With Life **

_Song: Move Along_

_By: All-American Rejects_

**-Sirius' POV-**

When he woke up on Christmas morning Sirius smiled for a moment before the grin dropped off of his face. He had remembered Regulus' absence a lot sooner that day than any other previous day. He had gotten used to Regulus being gone, by now, but it had taken a while. For the first week he kept waking up expecting Regulus to be downstairs; it would take him a walk around the first and second floors to remember that Regulus had died and he wouldn't be downstairs waiting for breakfast or feeding Mira and Carina. It was a hard blow to his mind and heart, those first days, but he had gone numb from that particular sensation of pain. He was starting to get used to the idea of his brother being gone, painful though it was.

He climbed out of bed gently so as not to wake Rose then went to the bathroom and turned the shower on. He stepped in and let the cold water douse him, drowning the initial hurt that he still got sometimes when he thought about Regulus. Sirius stood motionless under the water, letting it wash away his emotions so that he could get through the day somewhat decently.

When he was done with his shower, Sirius dried himself off and got dressed in some black slacks and a red sweater; he didn't want to change later on for the party. He kissed Rose, who was still asleep, on the cheek then went down the hall to check on Calla and A.P.

They had gotten into a new routine of sorts. Since Sirius woke up early nearly every morning now, he took over the morning responsibilities having to do with the kids and Rose would sleep in; it didn't make sense for them both to get up, so he took care of them. Besides, it helped him with the hurt.

The twins were sitting up in their cribs, staring at the wall. When they heard the door open, they turned towards their morning caregiver. Sirius went over and pulled A.P. out of his crib first and changed his diaper. He went and picked out their clothes next, choosing their clothes for the party as well; the nice thing about being magical is, when you have kids you can just spell their clothes clean instead of changing them after every meal and snack. It saved quite a large amount of time, in the long run.

He put A.P. down on the ground to play with his toys while he went and brought Calla out for her turn at dressing. After she'd been changed and dressed, Sirius picked up A.P. in his other arm and brought the kids downstairs for breakfast.

He walked into the kitchen and nodded to Alice. Her and Frank had had to start earlier now that they were caring for three kids instead of one, so they would alternate coming down early to take care of everything they needed to; although, to Sirius, six wasn't that early anymore.

"How are you this morning, Sirius?" Alice asked.

"Well enough, I suppose. You?"

"Oh, I'm fine; slightly tired, but fine." Sirius chuckled at the comment; he could imagine her being tired, with three babies to care for; two was hard enough for him and Rose. "What shall it be this morning; applesauce, mashed bananas, mashed carrots, mashed peas or any of our other variety of mashed foods?" Alice smiled as she listed off all the different foods out on the counter, lifting each jar up as she stated its contents.

"I'll take some applesauce for Calla, she loves the stuff, and some mashed bananas for A.P., that's all I can get him to eat in the mornings, if you don't mind."

"Not at all, chap, not at all." They did this every time Alice was down in the morning; they'd trade some witty banter, mock something or other and then move on to polite small talk.

"How are those three behaving? Are they getting used to the new schedule?" he asked. That was as close as he'd come to talking about Regulus and Holly's death to anyone other than his children, and that was because they couldn't respond.

"They're adjusting fine. Mira and Cari are getting used to their new room; we decorated it exactly like their old room so the transition would be easier. But what I want to know, as does everyone else, is how are you doing Sirius, how are you handling things?" Sirius knew what she meant, but he wasn't sure he wanted to answer. He sat in silent contemplation for a moment before speaking. He wasn't ready yet; he would just say something to soothe her worry that she could convey to the others. They might suspect that he wasn't actually fine, but if he put on a good enough show they might let him be for a while more.

**-Alice's POV-**

Alice waited for Sirius to answer her. She'd been meaning to ask him for some time now how he was coping, but hadn't breached the subject as of yet for fear of upsetting him. No one else had asked him either, for the same reason. She wanted to help him, everyone did, but nobody was sure what to do. She had volunteered to ask him last night after dinner, as they determined he was less likely to explode at her especially when the kids were around. She was still waiting anxiously for him to answer. His head was bowed and his eyes were shut.

"Sirius?" she asked, trying to get his attention. He looked up at her and gave a grim smile.

"I'll be fine, Alice. It's just hard, you know? I only had a few years where we were close, and now he's gone; it's just not fair, is all. I miss him so much. Holly as well, though it's different with her."

"That's understandable, but we're all worried about you Sirius. We're worried, and we want you to know that we're here for you if you need us and that you can talk to us any time you want or need to, alright?" he nodded his head. "Good, now let's get back to doling out the mush." Sirius smiled faintly at that and began to feed the twins.

Alice and Frank had adjusted quickly to having three kids, not that they had any choice. They were taking it all in stride, though. Frank had been considering going back to work so they could afford to properly care for all three children, but after a trip to Gringotts they found that he wouldn't have to.

Mira and Carina each had sizable trust funds and Regulus had left his half of the Black fortunes, the monetary portion, to Frank and Alice to use as they saw fit. The rest of the Black fortunes, objects and heirlooms, or what was left of them, had gone to Sirius. To say the least, Frank and Alice would never have to work again if they didn't want to.

Alice finished up feeding the kids and cleaning up the mess that resulted from their eating; she didn't like to disturb Tinker or Dabble unless she had to, and using a spell to clean up was just as easy as calling for one of the house elves. When that was done, she left the kitchen and went over to the living room, leaving Sirius to finish up with feeding Calla and A.P. She put the kids down on the floor by their toys and let them have at it.

The guests would be arriving around noon. The children were being given a later bedtime tonight, but not by much. A few people would be staying the night, for convenience.

Arthur and Molly would be staying, as would their sons; she said that she had an announcement to make, a lot of people thought they knew what it was though. She had, after all, made several announcements over the years. Andy and Ted would be staying for a few days, until New Years, along with Dora; Dora had started to rebel against even _that_ variation of her name, only the adults were allowed to call her anything but Tonks and that was with a great deal of complaining on the young ones part. Various other Order members would be staying over as well; it was just easier to do when you had kids.

All in all, it would be a full house. All seven extra bedrooms would be used, plus all five bedrooms on the second floor. The others had reorganized things and gone through Regulus and Holly's belongings to clear out the rooms. It had all been put into storage for Sirius to look through later on and the rooms had all been converted to guest rooms for occasions such as this. Nobody had wanted to disturb their friends' belongings, but it had to be done sometime.

They had invited a large group of people over; the entire Order, the entire Hogwarts staff, the Auror department, the Obliviator department, their various family members, old friends from school and anyone else they could think of. Most everyone who had been invited had accepted the offer of a place to spend the evening. The wards had been changed again to allow single usage in by people saying 'Jolly Old St. Nick'. It was a ridiculous phrase for a floo connection, but it had holiday spirit and it could be concealed in a letter with a sentence about Christmas.

Alice began to doze on the couch, but pulled herself awake so she could monitor the babies. Alice would have to talk to Molly for some advice; how on earth could she handle six boys, it seemed impossible! Alice would have to get some tips about time management or something, she was crashing hard. She began dozing again, but this time she couldn't wake herself and she slipped into a deep sleep.

Before she was gone completely, she wondered if Molly would start mothering Sirius. She had a tendency to pester a person until they told her what was wrong; maybe she could make him feel better where everyone else failed. After all, Molly had a strange ability in sensing those types of situations and Sirius was obviously exhibiting some signs of depression. Alice fell asleep with that last thought and became useless to the world for the next two hours.

**-Molly's POV-**

That boy looked depressed. He couldn't fool Molly; she had a sixth sense about these things, like how she could tell if someone wasn't telling the truth, eating enough or getting enough sleep, which he wasn't either. She shook her head and decided to put it off until later on that evening; she would have plenty of time to talk to him, and it would be better to do it with a bit of privacy. She would use tact, if nothing else. She walked over to Arthur and smiled broadly, temporarily putting aside her worry.

"When should we make the announcement, dear?" she asked. They had been there for a few hours now. Small snacks had been served earlier on, and were still sitting out and being replenished for anyone who got hungry. Arthur beamed at her; if it was possible, he was more excited about the announcement than Molly was, and that was saying something.

"Why not now," he responded, still beaming.

Molly nodded and turned to find Lily in the crowd. She had confronted the younger woman earlier on and asked her if she would help them gather attention to make the announcement. She gave Lily the signal that she was ready when she caught the other woman's eyes.

Lily stood up on the coffee table and cleared her throat loudly, causing everyone to stop their conversations and turn to her. _That girl has a gift for attention grabbing,_ Molly thought;_ she'll do well later on when her children get older and need punishing._

"Molly and Arthur have an announcement to make, as I'm sure you all know, and they would like to share with us at this time." Lily smiled and stepped down as everyone turned their gaze on the red-headed couple, who were still beaming.

"Well, the first part of our announcement probably isn't a surprise," stated Arthur, a happy, joking note in his voice. "Molly's pregnant."

Everyone smiled at the couple and started shouting out congratulations. Those in the near vicinity were patting Arthur on the back and hugging Molly. The couple continued to smile and Arthur held his hand up to silence them once more. Once the crowd had settled again, Molly picked up where her husband had left off.

"The surprising news, though, is that we're going to have a little girl!" she was smiling, if possible, even more broadly now. Her face was split in the biggest grin anyone had ever seen on her. People started cheering and congratulating the couple again.

"I'm not sure we could handle another boy; they're just too rambunctious," Arthur said, smiling as he joked with the crowd. Everyone laughed at the comment about having to deal with too many young boys, all energetic troublemakers.

The group went back to their individual conversations after that, someone occasionally coming up to congratulate the couple.

The evening went on in a similar fashion; polite conversations, lots of eating and drinking, games and presents. It was a wonderful party, very enjoyable. The party picked up a little after the kids went to bed at around 9:30 and lasted until about 1:00, when people started to make their way home.

All those staying at the home began to make their way to their assigned room for the evening. Molly sent Arthur up with the kids, but stayed behind to confront the man who'd been pretending to be happy all evening.

She walked up to Sirius when she saw him standing alone. She stood beside him and waited for him to acknowledge her presence. After a few moments, he spoke.

"Hello Molly. Congratulations on the daughter; you must be excited." He was wearing that fake cheery smile again and he wouldn't look her in the eye. She knew how to deal with that; she was the mother of six boys, after all.

"Sirius Black, you look at me when you talk to me and don't you dare pretend to be alright. I know you better than that; anyone could spot from a mile away that you're faking cheerfulness."

"I don't know what you're talking about, Molly, I'm just fine."

"Don't give me that, young man. You are not fine and you know it. Now, tell me what's bothering you; and don't say that you're fine because all it will earn you is a scolding and some chores at my house." She knew that being harsh was the only way to get to this boy; codling and tip-toeing around the subject didn't work, you had to be blunt. Besides, her garden could use a good de-gnoming.

"Molly, I'm a grown man. You can't make me do anything I don't want to." He was trying to make excuses now; she was breaking down his defenses. He had passed trying to feign ignorance and was now trying to take control of the situation; good, only a short ways to go.

"Just try me." She was waiting for him to realize that she could, in fact, get him to do whatever chores she had for him. She was a stern woman, not one to be ignored or played with. If she wanted something done, it got done. That's just how it was, and everyone who knew her or of her knew that to be an un-alienable fact. She could see the wheels turning in his mind, trying to come up with a new defense to having to answer.

She figured nobody had been able to break all his defenses; and that if they'd broken any they were very small ones. She intended to break them all down and make him see reason so he could finish grieving and go on with life. She may seem harsh, but it had been a month and he had a wife and two children to look after.

Molly noticed when he'd made his decision, because his face crumpled a bit. His shoulders sagged and he let out a huge sigh of defeat. He looked at her for a moment, trying to come up with words to speak. She waited patiently, trying to get him to do it on his own without further prompting.

"Fine, but can we go somewhere where nobody will overhear us? The office should be empty." She nodded and he began walking towards the back of the house and the offices. As it turned out, the office wasn't empty. It was occupied by James, Lily, Henry and Harriet. Lily must have guessed what was going on, because she smiled and said the girls' office was free. So, that's where they went. Molly waited for Sirius to begin. He was laying down on the chaise lounge and Molly was sitting in one of the chairs. He turned to her, and gave a faint smile before beginning what was to be an even longer night for the both of them.

**-Sirius' POV-**

He had been pushed, he knew, to his breaking point. He had been asked countless times in the past weeks how he was, what was wrong, if he needed anything and so on. He was sick of it. He couldn't take anymore questions about his well-being. When she asked him, and kept pushing, he decided he'd answer her. He couldn't keep up the endless reassuring of his mental health anymore, it would make him crazy.

He started telling her all he had felt. He took her through every stage of his emotions from the evening it happened until that day. He figured that it may have been more than she bargained for, but she _did_ ask him.

He told her of how he felt his world collapsing a little that first night. How he had felt part of his heart being torn. The sick feeling he got in his gut. The horror he felt at what had happened.

He went on to tell her of how he'd woken up expecting to see his brother. How he had felt disappointment and pain, a burning, searing pain in his chest, every time he thought of his brother those first days. How he'd turn a corner and think it would be his brother, but it would end up being somebody else; come to ask him how he was again. He told of how he was slowly going numb from the experience.

He told her of how he tried to find an anchor to the real world in his children. How they kept him grounded, connected to life. He told her how he was enraged at those who'd done it. How he was furious with himself for not preventing it from happening. He told of how he should have been taken instead, how it wasn't his brothers' time and he was too young.

She was crying now, silent tears of pity and sadness, grief and pain. He began crying as well, though he didn't notice until he went to rub his eyes and felt the warm wetness surrounding his eyes. He had gotten up and begun pacing the room; her eyes followed him around the desk, to the door, to the windows, to the wall and back to the desk. He kept walking, trying to rid himself of the emotions he was feeling.

He couldn't stop himself from feeling. He couldn't stop the pain, the sorrow, the anger, the torturous agony, the unwarranted sense of loneliness. He cried, and told her of how he felt guilty for being a horrible brother those first years of his life, and that of his brothers. He stopped pacing and collapsed onto the ground when he spoke of how it was his fault, and how he had 'murdered' his brother; "maybe not directly," he said when she objected, "but it was my fault he died."

She got up and walked over to him and embraced him. One of those motherly hugs she gave that made you feel as if your ribs would break and your lungs collapse. She began muttering nonsense words of comfort into his ear and rocking him back and forth. _What am I, four?_ He thought to himself. _Well, I suppose that she's used to dealing with young children and it is kind of making me feel better, I suppose._

He let her comfort him, in her own over-protective mother-ish sense. When she pulled back, she had him sit down on a chair and sat herself in front of him. She looked in his eye and began to coerce him into ridding himself of his self doubt, self blame and grief.

She told him how he couldn't have prevented it, how he did all he could. He retorted by saying that he wasn't much use then, was he? She told him to shush up and listen. She explained how he couldn't have stopped those curses from flying.

She told him what a wonderful brother he'd been, how Regulus had told her how happy he was with their relationship. How his brother had confided in her that he held no hard feelings for years past.

She explained that he couldn't possibly be at fault, and that he was being ridiculous. She reminded him of his responsibilities to the others; his wife, children, friends, the Order.

Every time he tried to argue, she had a counter. He was forced to face the fact that he wasn't at fault. It took them all night, but Molly got Sirius to stop blaming himself and move on a bit more from Regulus and Holly's deaths. Sirius left the room that night felling like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

**-James' POV-**

James noticed that Sirius was acting differently the next day, they all did. He even seemed to be walking differently; as if the weight of the world had been on his shoulders but he'd recently dropped it on someone else's back for a time.

Lily had explained to him about how Sirius and Molly had gone into the office to talk last night. How she'd heard shouting, crying, shattering objects, screaming and any other number of noises after he'd gone to bed, wanting to be on hand in case something happened.

James was glad that his friend had gotten help. He was very grateful to Molly, for doing what the rest of them had wanted to avoid. He would commend her, later on, in her success and thank her for helping.

He thought that things might start to get back to normal again. Their routines had been observed, and they had talked, but that didn't mean anything next to peoples' moods.

It was to be expected the feeling of loss of normalcy, when two people leave the daily routine, for whatever reason. The fact that those people would never come back, made it that much harder to cope with.

They had all tried their hardest. They had worked to keep the same routines and the same schedules as before, with some slight tweaking here and there to make up for the lost people, but it wasn't the same and never would be.

Having Sirius in a bit of a better mood would make all the difference, because he was most affected, except for Cari and Mira of course.

Remus and Rina would have to appoint new guardians for Lucinda, but had decided to wait another week or so before making that decision.

They would be having a small New Year celebration, but not another large party as they had done for Christmas. Just a few select members of the Order and the house occupants would attend. Simple, yet hopefully it would be a good distraction.

James was getting more and more frustrated by the day, what with all the Death Eater attacks. Many people were being murdered, brutally, every day.

More, now than ever, did James want to take a more active role in the war. He wasn't comfortable sitting around, throwing parties while countless people were being killed. He knew it was a part of war, which was a part of life, but it depressed him and angered him to no end.

Aside from the deaths, were the people going over to Voldemort's side. There was Peter, which still galled James to think about especially after what happened as a result of that news. There were also some other Order members changing sides, though not taking the time to tell Dumbledore. They'd stop coming to the meetings, stop making contact with the others and ignore any attempts at contact made by the Order. The Dorsey's and the Wimbush's had both turned traitor to the Order, much to Dumbledore's dismay. It seemed they were losing members left and right.

There was nothing to be done about it, it would seem. The war seemed endless, without any visible means of a win for either side. The Dark made strategic attacks, but the Light countered and defended from them and captured members of the Dark. It was a fairly balanced war, despite the terror instilled in everyone that their family would be next in the line of vicious attacks.

Much was yet to come, in the struggle between Dark and Light, good and evil, Dumbledore and Voldemort. Because that's what it really boiled down to in the end, James though, Dumbledore vs. Voldemort. They were the leaders of each side and they controlled the goings on of their respective sides.

It made no sense, sometimes. What was the war really about, if you thought about it? A crazed man wanting to exterminate all muggles, muggleborns and half-bloods. If you were to ask James, he would say it sounded a hell of a lot like that muggle war forty years ago, the one with the maniac who wanted to rid the world of some muggle religion or other; James never really paid attention to the specifics of muggle history, but Lily had mentioned the basics to him a while ago when they studied Grindewald in History of Magic and it had sort of stuck. It was a very twisted web of wars, but if you were to examine it enough it made for a pattern of madness.

**-Rose's POV-**

It had been a week since New Years and everyone had returned to their homes by now. Dora would come by a couple times a week to study with Lily about various things. They had keyed her to the floo wards so she could come through whenever she wanted. She was becoming very independent and she wanted to do everything for herself or by herself; cook, learn about Metamorphmagi, clean her room, pick her own clothes, choose her own hair color and eye color, and floo to Camp Lily for the day without 'mummy's help'. They all found it quite amusing. It was normal, though, for a child to assert their independence, at least for a short while.

Rose had noticed the change in Sirius right away, and she had grinned like a madwoman all day long. She'd made a point of thanking Molly for her excellent confrontational abilities.

Routine was pretty normal, sometimes getting rather boring. But then, there were the times when…

Rose thought back on the past month and thought about that phrase 'what doesn't kill you makes you stronger'. That seemed to apply here, but they had come out of their 'stagnancy' relatively unscathed.

They were moving on with life, and Rose planned to enjoy hers to the fullest. After all, she didn't know how long she had left. She could die tomorrow, or in two years for all she knew. She planned to live each day as if it were her last, enjoying the small things and taking pleasure in what she could while taking the pains in stride. She was taking on a new attitude towards life, after Regulus and Holly's deaths. Life would be good for them, from now on; at least it would if Rose had anything to do with it.

**-Lily's POV-**

The next couple months passed by quickly for the group of friends. Sirius completed the grief cycle and finally stopped blaming himself. Rose had started smiling a lot more often, though nobody really knew why. Frank and Alice had gotten used to the extra children in their care. Remus and Rina had named Sirius and Rose as Lucinda's guardians with the reasoning that Frank and Alice had enough children to be getting on with and that Lily and James would have their hands full with their Lord and Lady.

Lily and James had gone to many a wizarding library and searched for every book they could find on Lady Claire and Lord Charles. Whenever they found something new, which wasn't often, they alerted Dumbledore immediately. The two also searched for any other such occurrences.

Harry and Hallie had said their first words the week before, extremely early for children.

------FLASHBACK-----

_Lily walked into the living room and saw James sitting on the floor with the twins. He'd been trying to get one of them to say 'daddy' for a month now, but both just looked at him like he was a cloud floating above them in the sky._

"_Come on, one of you must be able to say it. 'Daddy'. That's not so hard, is it? You two give it a go. Come on." They continued to look at him and smile. They turned to each other for a moment then Harry turned to James and pronounced with great confidence;_

"_Pa-foo!" Harry smiled at his father, who was looking rather disgruntled._

"_No, Harry, daddy. Not Padfoot, daddy. Try again." James waited expectantly for either of their children to pronounce daddy._

"_Pa-foo! Pa-foo! Pa-foo!" Harry kept on saying the name over and over again through his giggles. He turned to Hallie, who turned to James and smiled at him. James looked to his daughter, hoping to hear something along the lines of daddy._

"_Pong!" James' face brightened and he turned to me._

"_Lily, did you hear that? She knows her old man! She called me Prongs!" He was beaming with sheer joy now._

-----END FLASHBACK-----

Hallie had unconsciously won a piece of James that day. She could probably get anything she wanted from him, even though she could barely talk. All she'd have to do was point at it and he'd get it for her; that was why Lily wouldn't let James take them shopping anymore.

Sirius had laughed when he heard of Harry's first word, much to the annoyance of James. None of the other children had started to speak yet, but it was only a matter of time.

**-James' POV-**

It still annoyed him that Harry's first word had been Padfoot. It shouldn't, he knew, especially since it'd been three months. It was mid June now, a couple weeks before Calla and A.P. turned 1 year old.

All the kids had had their first words by now, and a few their first steps. Harry and Hallie had walked in April, a month after their first words. Calla's first word had been 'qui-it', her version of quidditch, according to Sirius it signified a superior talent in the sport; she had managed a few steps by herself. A.P. had said 'doggy', which made everyone laugh, after he saw Sirius transform back and forth between his dog form and his human form one day to entertain the kids; he had also managed to walk a bit.

Neville had said 'mama' which made Alice smile for a while; he hadn't yet walked on his own, he kept stumbling, but he was close. Lucinda had said 'choc-it', causing Remus to grin from ear to ear; Lucinda had walked a few feet, though she did stumble a bit. Cari had said 'daddy' to Frank, making everyone sad for a bit; she hadn't walked yet. Mira had said 'moo-ey', attempting to say 'moony', but it had come out as more of a cow impression; she hadn't walked yet either.

Everyone was progressing nicely with whatever they were doing. They were planning on having one big birthday party for all the kids instead of five separate ones. It would be in mid July, so they had some time left.

**-Sirius' POV-**

It was mid July, and the day of the childrens birthday party. Sirius had taken enormous steps in getting over Regulus' death; at least as much as one could expect him to after what happened. Molly had continued to help him, berating him whenever he got into another funk.

The first floor and the game room were decorated with quidditch themed paraphernalia and some Disney souvenirs; Mickey and Minnie things, mostly. The party would start soon, so Sirius had to finish getting dressed; nothing much, just some jeans and a t-shirt. They weren't dressing up of course; it was a kid's party after all.

When he was ready, he walked downstairs to help finish up with what he could. Tinker and Dabble had done an amazing job with the place, he noted after walking down the last flight of stairs. He wished he could apparate like Lily and James in the house; it would save so much time.

Sirius walked into the living room and found Lily, Alice and Rina with the kids; Rose was in the kitchen making the cake, something she had insisted upon doing herself, and the guys were upstairs getting ready, they'd done so in shifts. He sat down on the couch next to Alice and picked up Calla and A.P.

"So Sirius, you feel old now that your kids are a year old?" Lily was trying to make a joke; she was off her game today.

"I've had time to acclimate to the feeling, but what about you? You've still got a few days before you hit that mark of condemnation. You'll be what in September, 30, 40?" Sirius ducked as a pillow came his way, thrown by a red-faced Lily. She hated when people talked about her age, even if it was only a joke. "What," he said sarcastically, "you can't take as good as you get? I'm disappointed, Lily-Pad. You're losing your touch, I'm afraid. We'll have to work on that."

Another pillow came his way, but he wasn't quick enough to dodge this one and it hit him smack in the face.

"I told you to stop calling me that in fourth year, Sirius Black, and you had better listen. I don't know what possessed you to bring that horrid name back now, but it had better possess you to put it right back where it came from…the past." Sirius began laughing, which only made Lily even more flustered.

She got up and, forgetting her wand in the heat of the moment, started tickling him in his weak spots; his neck and arms. It was common knowledge that Sirius was overtly ticklish in those places, and being like a sister, Lily knew exactly how to make him regret his words. She was a good judge of just how much he deserved, too. She never went overboard, but she always made her point clear and got back at him all at once.

He started laughing even more, an uncontrolled noise that sounded maniacal. When she heard this, Lily started laughing too and collapsed onto the floor. Rina and Alice were looking on in amusement, watching their friends 'fight' about a silly nickname.

"Are you two quite finished yet?" asked Rose from the door, a smile on her face and laughter in her voice. "People will be arriving shortly and they certainly don't need to see Lily about to wet herself from excitement; maybe one of the children, but certainly not an adult."

"I take offense to that statement. I have never once, nor will I ever, wet myself. I demand a public apology. An article in the _Daily Prophet_ and a public announcement should do." Lily had composed herself and was now doing her best to keep a straight face.

"Yes," Rose said rather dryly and sarcastically, "I'll get right on that. How about right after I spit-shine Voldemort's shoes." Everyone chuckled at that.

"Don't do that, the shine might interfere with a duel and then where would we be?" again, everyone found the humor in the statement and laughed heartily at Lily's wry response.

"Right-o, chief. Listen, I could use some help with the names on the cake; I never could get those charms down. Would you help me for a minute Lily?" Lily nodded and, getting up, followed Rose back into the kitchen, murmuring something about shining Mad-Eye's head, while she was at it.

The rest of them heard that and got another good laugh, which is what James, Remus and Frank saw upon entering the room. They didn't have to know what was going on to smile, Sirius knew, just seeing their friends laughing was enough to make them happy these days; at least happy enough to smile and join in on the fun.

They sat there, enjoying each others' company, until the first of the guests arrived. Molly and Arthur had brought the kids; those who could, began a game of tag. Molly immediately went up to Sirius and asked him how he was, demanding an honest answer, forgetting to have her children greet everyone. She didn't leave off until she was satisfied Sirius had told the truth about being much better. Shortly thereafter came Andy, Ted and Tonks; she pitched an absolute fit when anybody called her anything but Tonks, so they just called her that now. She felt her middle name was rubbish as well; Walburga, after her great-aunt. What Andy was thinking, Sirius didn't know, just that she kind of liked the name he guessed.

Tonks joined in the game of tag after greeting everyone, having been reminded of her manners by her mother just as she was about to run off.

Several of the Hogwarts staff arrived together; Minnie, Dumbledore, Flitwick, Sprout, and Pomfrey. After them came some Order members and their kids, then some ministry people and kids if they had them. They had a full house, Sirius noted with joy. It was good to have friends, especially in a time of war.

Sirius saw Molly talking to everyone who lived in the house with Sirius, those that could talk at least, and receiving full reports on his sanity from everyone. He chuckled, as that was all he could do. Molly was going to follow up as long as she had to too be sure; that's the way she was, motherly, and mothers don't give up that easily. It was a good thing, too, that she didn't, otherwise Sirius would still be depressed.

Once everyone was present, they ate buffet style with a table of food situated in the middle of the games room. The bar had pre-made drinks set out, some butterbeer, and some muggle soda for those wanting it. After lunch, they had cake. They sat all the birthday kids around the table and shut off all the lights. When Rose walked in, her lighted masterpiece balanced precariously in her arms, the children seated around the table were enthralled by the firelight.

She walked up and set the cake on the table, cutting a rather large piece for each of them. It was a huge cake, by any standards. Six layers with chocolate frosting and Minnie and Mickey shaped heads around it and the children's names written around the different layers.

Each child had a piece with a candle on it. Once they had sat there for a moment, they blew out as if extinguished, having been on a timed lighting charm. Rose pulled the candles out of the cake and waited, a camera now poised in her hands.

Sirius wasn't quite sure what to make of his wife's strange behavior, but went with it for the time being. He watched as, Calla and A.P. first, the children dunked their heads into their slab of cake, one by one. They all pulled their heads up with cake and frosting plastered to their faces, grinning like fools.

Sirius laughed with everyone else, while Rose snapped pictures of each new one-year-old. He couldn't wait to see those pictures. He continued to watch his children try and eat the cake, while others mingled with their own slices of devil's food cake.

After cake, were the presents. There wasn't much a person could buy for children with wealthy parents who didn't really need anything and couldn't express what they wanted yet.

Molly had knitted a pair of socks for each of them, along with some jumpers. Andy had gotten each of them a practice wand; "A little early, I know," she said, "but you can never learn to early, can you?" Dumbledore had gotten each of them a few sugar quills, stating that "One can never have too much candy!" Minnie had, surprisingly, gotten each of them a pair of Minnie or Mickey ears from Disney World saying, "I don't know your strange obsession, I probably never will, but since you enjoy them so much I thought the children might as well." Moody had, not so surprisingly, gotten each of them a foe glass, "You can never be prepared to early, CONSTANT VIGILANCE!"

Those who didn't know them as well got them various things. Ranging from clothes, to 'gift galleons', to toys and books. The kids were delighted at first, but got bored half-way through and started to see who could throw their ears the farthest, making Minnie smile.

After presents, they let the kids go at it for a while, playing games and doing whatever they wanted so long as it didn't hurt anyone. A few hours later, and everyone was leaving for home again. The kids had gone down for naps and the adults were watching a movie in the Living Room. When it got late enough, they all went to bed. Sirius thought about the great time they'd had, and how he was looking forward to their next party. They didn't really throw parties for the 'adults' because there were just so many of them. Although, Sirius thought, Halloween was just around the corner.

_**A/N: I'll try to update soon, I promise! I'm kinda getting writers block, but no need to worry because I shan't quit! **_

**_IMPORTANT! Alright, I'd like everyone's opinion. After the 'Halloween Incident', should I:_**

_**keep it the same story**_

_**start a sequel**_

**_write an in-between chapter then a sequel (the in-between would be a summary of years 1 ½ - 10 ½, until they got their Hogwarts letters)_**

**_Please review with your opinion, personal preference, or any compliments  hint, hint  or criticisms. _**


	15. Down With The Sickness

_**A/N: Alright, I know it's been a while, but hopefully you all still want to find out what happens to our lovely Harry Potter heroes and heroines. I've had tons of homework, work and other crap (writers block – grins sheepishly) occupying (or not occupying) my time. But, if you read on, you'll find the chapter worth it (I hope). I'm rather disappointed in the responses I got…which was none…to my question about how I should continue. But, I did get some reviews so I want to thank those who have reviewed; **_**Olyy, wertyit, Wolfenheim, and BitterSweet Amusement. **_**The title is actually a song by Disturbed; I figured it fit in well with the ending of the chapter.**_

**Chapter 14: Down With The Sickness**

_Song: Headstrong_

_By: Trapt_

I'm putting this here so you'll_**READ THIS! **_I've made some slight changes to the story, nothing earth-shattering. I've gotten rid of the whole "Lord and Lady" magical level thing, Harry and Hallie just have a higher potential than is normal. A larger magical core, shall we say. I've checked the chapters since that first entered the story, but if you notice any flaws let me know. The only chapter that's been changed is chapter 10. Thanks. Now, then, on to the story.

**-Lily's POV-**

Lily woke to the sound of Calla and A.P. crying, beginning simultaneously. It was one of those times where Lily wished she and James didn't "trade" kids with Sirius and Rose for the day. It was mid afternoon, but Lily hadn't been sleeping well lately due to worry over the war. It felt as though she had just gotten to sleep. At least with Harry and Hallie, she could count on them to be quiet and to entertain themselves while she took a nap.

She always made sure there was someone else in the house, though. After all, she was tired, not a bad mother.

She got out of bed to go see what the problem was now. This was the third time they'd woken up in an hour from their own nap. The first time had been due to hunger, and then it was because of wet diapers…both of which had been checked on before their nap. She couldn't imagine what it was now, seeing as they normally only cried for three reasons; hunger, wetness, and tiredness.

_Oh well,_ she thought to herself, walking down the hallway towards the twins' temporary room, _I can always sleep later while James watches the children_.

She got to the twins rather quickly, avoiding the few toys in the hall that hadn't yet been picked up by Tinker or Dabble without even looking where she was going. Living with so many children, you developed a sixth sense about things such as where to avoid walking. Toys weren't the only thing that children made a mess of, there was always a second tasting of their breakfast, or lunch, or dinner, really anything they ate that they weren't accustomed to yet.

They had found, over the past few weeks, that Neville was very finicky, Harry and A.P. would eat about anything, Mira and Cari liked their routine, and Calla, Hallie and Lucinda were adventurous but preferred what was familiar, but to a lesser degree than Mira and Cari.

They had all been trying to get the children to try new things, so as to instill open-mindedness and to expose the children to new things. Lily and Rose had decided that a good dose of muggle culture was in order, so every week a day was spent in the muggle world doing muggle things the muggle way, no magic. Everyone went with, and it was a different thing each week.

It seemed the twins just wanted attention, this time, so she took them to a chair and told them exaggerated tales of the things they had done themselves recently.

So far, on their little adventures, they had bought a car; no magic, meant no magical travel either. James had wanted a sports-car the moment he saw one, but Lily had thought a nice mini-van would suit them, with so many in tow. They had eventually compromised on a family suited sedan (enlarging charms to be placed on the thing the next day so everyone would fit). It was a little sporty, but still safe enough to suit Lily.

They had also attended a muggle church ceremony, after Rose thought back to the days she would go with her parents to church. It had been interesting, but a one time thing…at least until the children were older…Lily still didn't like to think about that poor old woman who was sitting in front of them.

Another trip had been to McDonalds. While Lily and Rose found it to be rather ordinary, they still thought it was funny to see Sirius and James chasing each other around the Play Place, down the slides and into the ball pit, proceeding to hold Marauder court and then a "war" with the provided weapons.

Lily had bought a camera, muggle of course, for future trips.

They had found a zoo not too far away, and spent the day there. They'd found out at the serpent house that Harry and Hallie were, as suspected, parseltongues and much more. It seemed as though they could communicate with all the animals; though how, they still weren't sure. The authorities, meaning Dumbledore and Minnie, had been called in to help explain, but to no avail.

They'd done a few other things, generally enjoying themselves. They'd had a movie day, watching a bunch of Disney movies; Bambi, Dumbo, Lady and the Tramp, Sleeping Beauty, and Snow White. Of course, they hadn't gotten to them all in the one day, but they still watched and enjoyed them all thoroughly. Sirius had even made popcorn the muggle way, with a popper and seeds. His first batch had been a little salty, and then too buttery, finally he got sick of it and made everyone add their own condiments. It was funny seeing Sirius flustered.

This week, for Halloween, they were going to go trick-or-treating with the kids. They hadn't decided which night yet, Lily and Sirius had been debating the point for a while now;

_---Flashback---_

"_Sirius," Lily said for the fifteenth time in less minutes, trying to keep her cool but failing miserably, "you can't go trick-or-treating the day before Halloween, everyone will look at you like you're nutters and call the police! You have to go on Halloween, if it's to be any fun!"_

"_But we were supposed to have a party, and what does it matter what night we go out? I don't get what the problem is! Besides," he mumbled to himself, or so he thought, "it's not like any of us have never looked like whack jobs before."_

"_And just what, Sirius Orion Black, are you implying with that statement?" Lily questioned, her tone making Sirius step back a pace and everyone else in the room cringe slightly._

"_Just that we've looked like idiots before, and willingly. Why's now different?" Lily seemed to calm down a bit, after her, in Sirius' opinion, unwarranted outburst. This gave Sirius a new confidence to continue. "Why don't we take the kids out some other night, it isn't as though they'll know the difference!"_

"_No, they won't," Sirius started to feel hopeful…he wanted his party _on_ Halloween, "but I will." Sirius' face fell after that last, but he kept going on for another two hours, not persuading Lily one bit._

_---End Flashback---_

They'd had many discussions, _fine, maybe they were arguments_, since then. Nothing had been resolved as of yet, so they were all going to vote on what to do. Sirius and Lily would have a short debate, well…argument, in front of everyone, not that anyone needed clarification on who wanted what, and then vote for what they wanted to do. _You know,_ Lily thought as she recalled this last bit, _some people would say we were extremely lame, but what are you to do when everyone you can trust is coming with you or busy and you can't trust a babysitter. Just because they were married with kids didn't mean they didn't need entertainment, no matter how pointless or lame._

**-Sirius' POV-**

Lily was being entirely unreasonable, in Sirius' opinion. She couldn't see that it really didn't matter when you went whatever-it-was, so long as you went. It was the day before Halloween and they still hadn't decided their plans yet; talk about last minute invite!

_Okay,_ he decided to consider Lily's point more rationally. _Ha, yeah right! At least I can admit I'm being childish, it is who I am after all. Alright, so maybe I'm being selfish, and maybe a little bit of overreacting took place on my part about not being able to have the party when I want, but Merlin am I bored!_

It was getting late, nearing on midnight, as Sirius finally reasoned out that he didn't want his kids, god kids, nieces and nephews to look like losers going out whatever-it-was on the wrong night. Besides, he wanted to dress up…it sounded like fun. He would tell Lily tomorrow that they could go that night and have the party the next night.

Sirius sighed. _When did I lose my winning charm, winning being the operative phrase here? When did I stop being able to charm anyone into getting my own way? Merlin, I must be getting old. I must write down my ways so they are not lost! I must teach future generations! What if A.P. and Harry grow up never knowing how to get themselves out of detention, or losing house points?!_

Sirius began to panic, and then he remembered he had James to help him and he could always ask Dumbledore if he could borrow his pensieve for educational purposes. _Educational my arse!_ But he doesn't need to know that.

He plopped into bed, waiting for Rose to finish up her nightly shower and come to bed. Merlin he loved it when they traded kids with Lily and James, Harry and Hallie never got upset about anything and were mostly self-sufficient, already getting used to their magic. It amazed him how much control they already had over their magical powers, simply amazed him.

Sirius drifted off thinking of this whole begging for candy thing, he kind of liked the sound of that.

**-Rose's POV-**

Rose stepped out of the shower and finished her nightly preparations for bed, brushing her hair and teeth and so on. When she walked into the bedroom once again, she saw Sirius had not been able to stay awake for long. She smiled at the expression he wore when he slept, no matter what he dreamt about he always held the same look of innocence he had practiced and used so many times on unsuspecting teachers. He, of course, didn't know that he did so.

She climbed into bed and went to sleep, thinking of how they would resolve that damned problem about Halloween. Personally, she was on Lily's side, but she knew where Sirius was coming from.

Some time later, she woke to somebody shaking her rather roughly.

"Sirius, not now I'm trying to sleep. You have to catch me before the eyes shut." Rose grumbled out a sleepy response, not caring if she sounded cranky…she was.

"Wake up; I don't want that," she looked up at him, mock hurt and real disbelief on her face, "well, not now anyway." She smiled and indulged him by sitting up and turning on their bedside lamp.

"What is it, love?" she forced out in a curious way, she was tired and she wanted to get more sleep before she had to take back Calla and A.P., who were soon going to be called demon children if they didn't get out of their 'cry all the time' phase.

"I had the strangest dream!" he began.

"You woke me up because of a dream? Not to sound rude, but couldn't this wait until the sun is up at least?"

"No, it was a dream about Halloween. We have to do that whatever-it-is thingy on Halloween." He said this all in a rush.

"Why the sudden change of heart?" Rose was genuinely curious to the change in Sirius' opinion. Usually, arguing with Sirius was similar to arguing with a rock; pointless and completely frustrating.

"Umm," Sirius said, obviously hiding something. "No reason, love, really," he added, seeing the doubtful look on her face.

"You don't change your mind for nothing. Besides, you woke me up at two in the freaking morning. Just tell me so I can go back to sleep."

"I just, umm, don't want the kids to look like losers is all?" He looked sheepish now.

"Really, you woke me up because you don't want the one-year-old kids to look like losers?"

"I had a dream that Snivellus had kids and they were more popular than ours because they went what-or-whatevering, okay. I can't let Snivellus have cooler kids than us! Hell, Snivellus shouldn't have kids at all. He's one of those people."

"Its call trick-or-treating, and one of what people?" she asked.

"The people who you wish their parents had used birth control."

"Oh, like Filch, I get it. Anyway, I still don't know that your story is entirely plausible, but I'm too tired to try and get the real story out of you so I'll buy it for tonight. Now let me go back to sleep."

Rose rolled over and turned off the light before Sirius could protest too much. She fell promptly back to sleep and had a nightmare similar to that of Sirius', she guessed. Snape had had triplets with some woman, and at school they were adored by nearly everyone while their kids were taunted and teased. She saw a scene of A.P. at a muggle psychiatrist's office, talking about how if they'd gone trick-or-treating that one year, they wouldn't have had any problems at all.

She now understood Sirius' panic. That man would do nearly anything to top Severus 'Snivellus' Snape. When she woke up, she had to laugh at what Sirius must have thought about the Snape look a likes in his dreams.

**- Pettigrew's POV-**

His Lord had wanted the location of the Potters, so he had told him what he knew. He wasn't sure what his Lord could do to get around the Fidelius, especially doubled up as it was, but he had been a faithful follower and told his master what he could, not that that had spared him from hours of torture.

He hoped those foolish people, his ex "friends", would get what was coming to them. In fact, it hadn't been hard at all for him to tell the location of the dolts who only thought of him as a follower and a worthless tagalong. They'd get theirs, and soon. His Lord was planning an attack that very evening, and he was glad of it. He couldn't wait to be rid of the morons who had treated him as dirt for so long, no more than an imposition and inconvenience.

He apparated home and laughed maniacally, ignoring the lingering numbness that wasn't quite pain. His childhood tormentors, for that's what he now viewed them as, would soon be gone from the world of the living and sent to hell in a hand basket. He was positively gleeful.

**-Snape's POV-**

He had been at his "Lord's" side when the Pettigrew fool sold out the location of his childhood enemies. He wasn't surprised, really, that Pettigrew had told their Lord how to locate the Potters. Pettigrew had come to hate them nearly as much as Snape did. He wasn't sure why his "Lord" wanted the Potters, but he knew he couldn't get them.

It was probably something to do with their children; he gave a mental sneer at the thought of those idiots reproducing. That meant he had to do something, loathe it as he might, because he was a part of the Order, allowed at the safe-house or not.

Much could be said about him, most of it bad, but he wouldn't let his own personal hatred of a man stop him from doing what was right when it concerned two such special children.

Oh yes, he knew all about the Potter brats; Albus did trust him after all, and for good reason.

And now, he had to do something he would despise himself for later; he had to save the Potters.

**-Lily's POV-**

She had won! Sirius had given in! She didn't know why, but who really cared so long as they were right? Lily had done a little victory dance, much to the amusement of James and Co.

They were going trick-or-treating!

Lily had decided to break the rules, just this once, and use magic to make the kids costumes, seeing as it would be umpossible to do so the muggle way and they didn't have time to go out and buy costumes.

She and Rose began their wand-work immediately, wasting no time. They made all eight costumes in just an hour, leaving them 45 minutes to get the kids ready to go before the sun began to set.

**-Snape's POV-**

He hated doing the right thing, Snape reflected as he walked from his "Lord's" quarters, limping slightly from the harsh use of the Cruciatus Curse. He had, of course, thought of something quickly to save the Potters' arses; that's simply what Slytherins did, they thought on their feet and put acts of subterfuge into action.

_- Flashback - -_

"_What is it, Severus?" asked Lord Voldemort in his voice, so like a snake's hissing._

"_My Lord, I have come to inform you of insolence among your ranks," he replied, strengthening his occlumency shields to cover his lie._

"_Oh, and what may that be?" he asked, sounding angered at the mere thought of a follower disobeying or betraying him._

"_My Lord, the information Pettigrew gave you was false. The Potters will not be at their home this evening. I have learned that they will be at the mudbloods sister's house. It seems she is trying to repair her relationship with her sister," he sneered for good measure, making it look as though he was disgusted by the thought of emotions._

"_Is that so, and why, Severus, do you think Pettigrew would lie to me?"_

"_My Lord, I know nothing of his antics, only what I have told you."_

"_Yes, of course. Do you have any further information for me, my loyal servant? Perhaps you know the whereabouts of the mudblood's sister?"_

"_Yes, my Lord. She lives at 4 Privet Drive with her husband and son. Their home should be an easy enough target, them being muggles."_

"_Good, good; another disgrace to the world gone. You may go, Severus, and find Pettigrew for me; I need to speak with him privately."_

_Snape turned and walked towards the door, not yet rejoicing in a lack of punishment; he was, after all, still in the room._

"_Oh, and Severus," he winced and turned around, bracing himself for the inevitable onslaught of pain, "don't wait so long to tell me next time." _

_A bright light shot at him, hit his chest and caused him to begin shaking violently, his muscles twitching and his limbs jerking._

_- End Flashback - -_

He would have shuddered at the memory, were he a weaker man. Dumbledore owed him hugely for this, saving his precious twins. The man wouldn't stop going on about the damn children. He knew more about them than he ever wanted to, his curiosity only extending to the point of their existence and barely that far.

And to think, he would have to teach the mongrels some day. Now that, he reflected, was enough to make him shudder.

**-Lily's POV-**

They all looked so cute in their costumes, so adorably sweet. Wow, Lily thought, I'm going soft.

Hallie and Harry, her pride and joy, were dressed as Tinkerbell and Peter Pan. Calla and A.P. were dressed as Lea and Luke; they'd recently watched Star Wars and it had become Sirius' favorite movie. Mira and Cari were dressed as Snow White and Sleeping Beauty. Lucinda was a miniature version of Minnie, the professor not the mouse, and Neville was a miniature version of Dumbledore. Lily loved the emerald green robes with pictures of rubber ducks on them that Neville wore.

The adults had decided to get in on it as well. Sirius and Rose were going as Brad and Janet, in their modest clothes, from Rocky Horror Picture Show; they didn't want to expose themselves too much to the general public, and many young eyes. Frank and Alice were dressed as Tarzan and Jane. Remus and Rina were dressed as Romeo and Juliet. James and Lily were dressed as Cleopatra and Mark Antony.

They left their house and began knocking on other doors in true Halloween fashion.

**-James' POV-**

They filled their bags plus some, though Lily didn't know about all of it. James had begun to vanish some of it home so they could keep going without having overflowing bags. He had thought about making them bottomless and weightless, but Lily would have known about that. This way, he might be able to slip the magic past her.

In the end, the candy was probably going to be eaten by the adults (Sirius and James) anyway.

They kept going, well after midnight, well past the time the kids had fallen asleep. They were having a good time.

Around one, Rina's costume started bugging her so they decided to head home. They walked in the door laughing, still hyper from the candy they'd been munching on constantly all night. When they got to the living room, James had an uh-oh moment.

It seemed his vanishing spell hadn't been as accurate as he'd thought, and he'd sent a _lot_ of candy to their living room. It was piled up on the couch, chairs, and tables; it overflowed onto the floor and you could hardly see the carpet. Well, seven plus hours of begging for candy for eight kids got you a lot of candy.

"James Potter, I know this was your doing. What on earth were you thinking, vanishing the candy home?" Lily asked, quieter than he thought she would have; good, he thought, she was getting tired.

"Umm, less to carry?" he said tentatively.

"Besides, Lily, he wasn't the only one doing it. I sent quite a bit home myself, and I know Rose did as well," Sirius spoke up, defending James.

"Yeah, I sent a bunch home too," said Remus.

"No big deal, Lils," added Alice.

"Not really," Lily said. Wow, James thought, she must really be tired if she's not upset we used magic on a muggle day. "I mean, we already used magic for the costumes, why not to make the candy carrying easier?"

"Exactly," said James, while Lily was still okay with it. It made sense, after all. "Let's head up to bed, we can count candy in the morning." He received multiple murmurs of agreement after that and so they all trudged up the many stairs to their warm beds, abandoning their bags of candy with the rest of it in the living room.

**-Dumbledore's POV-**

If what young Severus had just told him was correct, then Albus saw a possible end to the war…at least for now. It would take a bit of planning, but it could work.

Yes, he thought to himself, with a little planning he could end this war and save the next generation from the horrors of growing up during war…or because of it.

He quickly called Minerva into his office to discuss his plan. He couldn't, after all, go into this without assistance, and who better to ask than his Deputy Headmistress?

**-Snape's POV-**

There, he'd told Dumbledore. The situation was out of his hands now, and he no longer need do a thing to save Potter's skin.

His life debt was repaid, however grudgingly, and he could move on with his life. Who knew, maybe after tonight he'd be able to give up spying and have a _real _life?

He occluded his mind and walked back into the Dark Lord's chambers, having gone to "confirm some information."

"My Lord," he was mentally repulsed by his own submission to this disgusting creature. For he was no human; having a body and being alive did not make one a human. "It is done," Snape said, "I have gathered a few suitable followers to accompany you this evening. Lucius, Narcissa, and Bellatrix are all prepared to accompany you this evening."

"And you, Severus, are you prepared to join us this evening?"

He hadn't banked on that. He quickly covered his surprise and answered, "If you wish, My Lord, I can certainly join you."

"Yes, I do wish you to join us. You can take care of Potter," he didn't need to specify which one to Snape, only one would hold interest for him, "I seem to remember you having a particular dislike for the mudblood lover, have you not Severus?"

"Yes My Lord, I do." Damn, now he'd have to continue with this plot. "I thank you, My Lord. Call when you are ready for us and we shall come." With that, Snape bowed and left, wishing he hadn't agreed to be a spy for Dumbledore.

**-Dumbledore's POV-**

It wasn't long before their plan had been set into motion. Albus was about to leave when he received a patronal message in the form of a raven. From Severus, then, Albus thought.

_Albus, the Dark Lord has requested my presence at the raid this evening. I will, of course, be obliged to go along. I'll do my best to remain out of the thick of things, which may be difficult. See you this evening._

Well, it wouldn't harm his plans terribly to have Severus there, at least. He called for Minerva and the Prewett brothers, who'd been waiting for his word in the next room, and they set off for Hogsmeade to apparate to Privet Drive.

They got there with little time to spare, just enough to make sure the Dursley's were absent and set up their trap.

Gideon and Fabian were to watch the front door, Minerva the kitchen, and Albus would remain outside, in the back yard, invisible thanks to a spell performed in Hogsmeade so as to reduce the magical remains which would be easily sensed by Tom. Apparition would be expected by him, but invisibility spells would tip him off to the presence of others, especially if Albus' magical signature was the one behind the spell.

Their wait was not a long one, having known He would arrive around 10 O'Clock. As Albus had suspected, Tom had chosen the back door for entering. Albus quickly stepped behind the hedges and made himself visible once more. He waited for the group to walk into the kitchen through the back door, planning on hitting a at least Severus from behind with a stunner; that way, if everything went sour, Severus could maintain his post as spy, claiming he'd been incapacitated and thus unable to contribute to the raid.

He managed to stun Severus, but only just. He keeled over backward and hit the ground with what would have been a sizeable thump if Albus hadn't temporarily cushioned the ground to eliminate the noise. The rest made it through the threshold and into the kitchen, where Minerva was waiting. She had, no doubt, called for Gideon and Fabian at first sight of Tom and his Death Eaters.

Albus followed them in, quietly as he could so as to keep his presence unknown for a bit longer. The three must be hiding, he determined, waiting for his go ahead to make their move. He decided the opportune moment had arrived, and struck at Tom first, knowing the others could handle the three Death Eaters remaining.

An all out battle began, once Albus' first spell had rebounded off of Tom's back.

Minerva jumped out from behind the counter and engaged Bellatrix, who'd removed her mask, in a duel. Gideon and Fabian seemed to come out of nowhere, as was their unique talent, and began a duel with the Malfoy's. Neither specifically chose a dueling partner, but rather worked together, covering for each other when necessary.

Albus began his fight with Tom, who had taken in the situation during a brief pause and turned to face Albus.

"Why, Dumbledore," he sneered, "how nice to see you again."

"I'm afraid I cannot say the same, Tom," he flinched at the use of his given name.

"Don't use that filthy name, if you must address me use my chosen name."

"But, Tom is such a lovely name. Why do you scorn it so?" He knew, of course, why Tom hated his given name, but he needed to throw his control off balance if he was to have any advantage in this duel at all.

"You know, you old fool. Where are the Potter's? What did you do with them?"

"They are not here, Tom, as you can see. Nor are the Dursley's; just us."

Tom scowled, but continued the conversation.

"Yes, and what did you do with them then? Send them away?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact." He didn't want to compromise Severus, if at all possible. "Now, shall we get on with this little duel? It would seem the others are tiring of our prolonged conversation."

Minerva had bound Bellatrix, stunned her, taken her wand, and begun to help Fabian. Narcissa, it seemed, had used a particularly nasty stunner on Gideon, rendering him unconscious…at least Albus hoped that's all it was. Fabian was still going at it, keeping up with both Malfoy's until Minerva could assist him. They had gotten Lucius in the same state as Bellatrix before Tom spoke again, now only having to deal with Narcissa.

"As you wish, Albus, _Avada Kedavra_!" and an unearthly green light filled the room, aimed at Albus.

Albus sidestepped and the spell hit the unconscious form of Lucius. Albus barely spared a glance before he fired a spell soundlessly at Tom, meant to take off any shields put up. It hit, at least it hit the shields, and Tom's defense against common spells was gone, temporarily unknown to him.

Tom kept firing spells, which Albus dodged with ease. They were locked in a world all their own, no noise penetrating the bubble that seemed to have constructed itself around them. No words were spoken; both being extremely accomplished at nonverbal spells. The only spell needing words, the killing curse, was spoken by neither. It seemed they had forgotten how to speak, that their wands fired spells only by instinct rather than thought on the part of the caster.

The fight might have gone on for two minutes, it might have lasted twenty minutes, or it could have lasted two hours. Whatever the amount of time spent on this duel, it was progressed by some wishful spell work on the part of Minerva.

**-Minerva's POV-**

This was getting ridiculous. They had taken out the three Death Eaters with relatively little problems. After Lucius had been killed, Narcissa had gone to his side and forgotten the duel, leaving her exposed to Fabian's vengeful stunner. She was bound and her wand taken. Her prone form lay next to her sister's unconscious body and her husband's corpse.

Fabian had gone to Gideon and checked him over, finding he would be alright after some rest. He'd been re-awoken and was now watching the duel, groggily, with Minerva and Fabian.

Minerva decided to intervene. She'd seen Albus use a spell to rid Voldemort of his shields, but wasn't sure if it was still working. The shields could have come back by now, and her plan would be pointless, but she had to at least try before Albus wore himself out trying to fight the bastard off.

She walked to behind the disgusting creature she had met before on various battlefields but never in any other situation. He had graduated several years before her appointment as Transfiguration Professor. She raised her wand and aimed it at the back of his head, the optimal place for what she planned.

And then, silently, Minerva shot a stunner at the back of Voldemort's head, effectively knocking him unconscious, for the time being.

**-Dumbledore's POV-**

Albus immediately halted his firing of spells when Tom fell forward and Minerva became exposed to any attack he would have continued with.

Shocked, Albus sped to Tom's side, incase he were to awaken sooner than expected, and took his wand; not that that would do much, seeing as he could to wandless magic. He conjured ropes and bound him, directing the ropes to coil around his body like the wrappings of a mummy.

He looked to Minerva, and saw her grim smile of satisfaction. He smiled back at her, thanking her with his eyes for her quick thought.

"I would nave let you finish him off yourself, Albus, but at the rate you two were going we'd have been here till next Tuesday."

"Is that so, Minerva? Well, I thank you for your consideration of everyone's fatigue. Now, we must deal with this mess here."

"Well, Lucius is dead. The other two are unconscious, and if I'm not mistaken, there's one outside also unconscious. We should bring him in with the others. But what of Voldemort; surely we can't turn him over to the Ministry? He'd escape within a day!"

"We must send these three to the Ministry to be dealt with, the man outside is Severus, and Voldemort will have to be killed." Minerva looked shocked at the bluntness this last statement was said with. "We can't very well let him go, and giving him to the Ministry is as good as doing so. He must be taken care of. I'll do that, though, Minerva. Why don't you take care to bring these three and Severus back to the school, then call the Ministry to pick these three up? They can make arrangements for Mr. Malfoy's burial. And Fabian, would you please take Gideon to the Hospital Wing at school? I'm sure Poppy will be more than able to care for any injuries either of you may have sustained."

"Yes sir," Fabian said, "are you sure you don't need anything else?"

"Quite sure, now get along; you too, Minerva."

"I will not, not until this is all finished up. You two go on without me."

"Alright, see you later Minnie," Minerva cringed but said nothing.

"Well, Albus, let's get on with it."

"Right, if you insist, we'll just take care of this in no time."

Albus turned to the bound form of Tom Marvolo Riddle, covered from neck to foot in rope, and took his wand out once more, aiming it at Tom's face.

**-Voldemort's POV-**

Tom woke and looked around. Spotting Dumbledore, he glared.

"What now, Dumbledore, going to kill me?" he grinned wickedly, though with a touch of fear in the pit of his stomach. He hadn't, after all, gotten the chance to test his latest experiment. Oh well, one of the others should work well enough.

"Yes, Tom," Dumbledore said it with such seriousness, the ever-present twinkle in his gone. "I'm afraid it is your time. You have done enough damage within your life."

"You old fool; you think you can kill me? Go ahead and try! You cannot kill the great Voldemort."

**-Dumbledore's POV-**

"You still have so much to learn, Tom. What a pity your wit had to be wasted on such a horrible person. Goodbye, Tom." Thinking of all the horrible things the beast in front of him had done and could do if he lived, Albus summoned the hatred to perform the spell he was about to enlist the use of. "_Avada Kedavra!_"

Tom's face went slack; his body frozen forever with that horrible smirk in place, a slight touch of fear glinting out from the red eyes.

"Let us depart, Minerva. We don't know when the Dursley's will be home."

"Of course, we shouldn't linger. I'll just get Severus."

She walked out and a moment later reemerged with Severus rubbing his neck a few feet behind her.

"Is it over, Albus?"

"It is indeed over, Severus. Would you please assist us in transporting these four to my office? We will need to contact quite a few people. Minerva, when we get back to the castle, I shall send Severus to the Ministry. Would you please go to headquarters and ask our hosts to prepare for a long meeting, with a celebration at the end?

"Of course, Albus; who should I send notices to for the meeting?"

"Everyone in the Order, and please tell no one of the reason for this meeting. Also, if you could send Sirius and Lily to my office, only Sirius and Lily, it would be much appreciated." He looked around the room, but couldn't find what he was looking for. "Does anyone have the time? It's been a long evening and I wish to know how much longer it will be."

"2:30 in the morning, Albus."

"Thank you Severus. Now, let us go."

The three each took charge of one, or two in Minerva's Case, bodies and apparated to Hogsmeade, where they quickly disillusioned their cargo until they entered the sanctuary that was Albus' office.

Severus and Minerva set out on their tasks and Albus waited.

**The End**

_**A/N: Thanks to those who review and shame on those who don't! (Not really, I'm just in a rambling mindset)**_


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